This is a Running Record of Trump & Company Statements and Actions. Hard to Believe, But It's All Real
04.28.22-CRAZED LUNATIC-Has Marjorie Taylor Greene even read the Bible? She certainly has some opinions about it. The notorious Republican congresswoman from Georgia recently gave an interview in which she asserted that American church groups that assist migrant refugees are "not adhering to the teachings of Christ" but instead are the result of "Satan's controlling the church."
04.27.22-Today's Headlines-OMG
--Tucker Carlson declares Kevin McCarty "Puppet of the Democratic Party.
--Rick Perry lied about having ideas for overturning Trump’s defeat.
--Sean Hannity took directions from the White House on the day of the 2020 election.
--GOP standing ovation for liar McCarthy.
--Republicans cheer as congressional candidate demands Fauci's execution by firing squad.
--Ex-FBI Assistant Director accuses Tucker Carlson of aiding and abetting terrorism.
04.26.22-CONTEMPT BY THE CONTEMPTIBLE-In a stinging rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s treatment of the legal system, a state court judge held Trump in contempt of court Monday, essentially for failing to comply with subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general’s office. Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay $10,000 a day until he either hands over documents that respond to the subpoena or swears under oath that he has no documents related to the subpoena.
04.25.22-EVEN THIS MUCKRAKER SEES TRUMP AS PATHALOGICAL-British journalist and one-time Trump fan Piers Morgan revisited his recent tense interview with the former president, calling him “pathological.” Morgan had claimed — and stood by that claim Sunday — that Trump walked off the set after Morgan confronted him over his lies that the presidential election was rigged against him. Trump last week released partial audio of the interview that appeared to indicate the interaction ended on a friendly note. Trump claimed that a 30-second teaser released for the interview had been “unlawfully and deceptively” edited to make him look like he had stormed off in a huff. But Morgan insisted that Trump did walk off angry and “fired up.” Morgan called the former president “pathological” about his insistence during the interview that he wasn’t a loser in 2020. “It was uncomfortable,” Morgan told Howard Kurtz. “I’ve never seen him like that. He was very angry. Quite profane, in fact.” Morgan said Trump blew up when confronted about his election lies. “At that point, the fuse kind of went with him,” Morgan recalled. “He started insulting me, called me a fool seven times. I was very respectful back. I accepted if he wanted to call me that, that’s fine. But he wasn’t going to change my mind … He couldn’t accept that. He has a kind of blind, pathological belief that it [the election] was taken from him.”
04.24.22-JUST ANOTHER CONVICTED REPUBLICAN LUNATIC-Longtime political “dirty trickster” and Trump confidant Roger Stone said at a Utah campaign rally that he believes God convinced the former president to pardon him for his multiple federal felonies. He also called Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee a “great American patriot.” (And he called Trump the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.) Stone told the crowd that he asked the Rev. Franklin Graham to talk to Trump about pardoning him. Graham said if Stone confessed and put himself in the “hands of the Lord” Graham would “guarantee” he would be delivered from his persecutors, according to Stone’s account. “I’m convinced to this day that God gave Donald Trump the strength and the courage to pardon me in an election year and free me from this vile political persecution,” said Stone. God also speaks directly to Stone, he insisted, and Stone claimed he very specifically wants Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) out of office. “God came and told me he needs to removed from the U.S. Senate,” Stone recounted.
04.23.22-TRUMP=TRAITOR-Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) vowed that the upcoming hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection will “tell a story that will really blow the roof off the House.” Raskin called the bid to overthrow the results of the 2020 election the “most heinous and dastardly political offense ever organized by a president and his followers and his entourage in the history of the United States.” He called it a “coup.” It was “not a coup directed at the president,” Raskin said Thursday. “It was a coup directed by the president against the vice president and against the Congress,” he added. “No president has ever come close to doing what happened here in terms of trying to organize an inside coup to overthrow an election and bypass the constitutional order — and then also use a violent insurrection made up of domestic violent extremist groups, white nationalist, racist, fascist groups, in order to support the coup,” the lawmaker added. “That will be the story that people hear.”
04.21.22--COWARDS COWER! -Via The New York Times’s Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin, “In the days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building, the two top Republicans in Congress, Representative Kevin McCarthy and Senator Mitch McConnell, told associates they believed Trump was responsible for inciting the deadly riot and vowed to drive him from politics. McCarthy went so far as to say he would push Trump to resign immediately: ‘I’ve had it with this guy,’ he told a group of Republican leaders. but within weeks both men backed off an all-out fight with Trump because they feared retribution from him and his political movement. Their drive to act faded fast as it became clear it would mean difficult votes that would put them at odds with most of their colleagues.” (backed up by recordings)
04.20.22-SCUM SUPPORTS SCUM-Trump will be joined at his rally next week in Nebraska by Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, who has been accused by eight women of uninvited touching. Herbster’s appearance means that both headliners at the April 29 rally in Greenwood will be accused sexual assailants. Trump, of course, has been dogged by allegations raised by dozens of women.
04.19.22-NOW A SYCOPHANT, VANCE HAD IT RIGHT-Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance is happily touting his new endorsement from Trump — even though he once wondered whether Trump is “America’s Hitler,” according to a Georgia state lawmaker who attended law school with Vance.
04.18.22-POLITICS-UGH! -Nearly a quarter of all expenditures this year by a Trump-supporting super PAC reportedly paid for a single lavish event at — wait for it — his golf resort Mar-a-Lago. New York Times reporters Kenneth Vogel and Shane Goldmacher wrote about the February event earlier this year, describing it as an “elaborate forum” for candidates endorsed by Trump and donors who gave as much as $125,000 per person to the super PAC Make America Great Again, Now Goldmacher has the receipts. The get-together cost an eye-popping $318,000, which was nearly a fourth of the PAC’s total expenditures so far this year, he noted. The super PAC’s single largest line item for the first quarter of the year was the money to Mar-a-Lago for “event expense: facility rental and catering services,” Politico noted.
04.16.22-THEN TELL THE WORLD!-Conservative U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has characterized the former president as a “charlatan” who’s undermining our system of government by prioritizing pursuit of power over democracy. At this point, some will probably assume that Walton is a liberal jurist appointed by a Democratic president. He is not. Walton was first chosen for the D.C. Superior Court by Ronald Reagan, and he was tapped for the D.C. District Court by George W. Bush. By most measures, Walton has generally earned a reputation as a conservative. He's just a conservative who's taking a stand in support of democracy and the rule of law — which has turned him into a notable critic of Trump.
04.15.21- BUT HE REALLY IS A STUPID S.O.B.-As she gears up for her next gig, outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki is looking back on her publicly adversarial relationship with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy. At a live taping of the “Pod Save America” podcast Thursday, Psaki was quick to shift the blame for Doocy’s actions to his employer when she was asked if the journalist really was “a stupid son of a bitch.” “He works for a network that provides people with questions that ― nothing personal to any individual, including Peter Doocy ― but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a bitch,” she said, drawing laughter from the audience.
04.14.22-ALWAYS A PHONY-Mike Pence has been a politician adrift ever since he was cast from Trump’s inner circle for refusing to help overthrow the government in January 2021. These days, he is a pariah in the mainstream conservative movement Trump leads, leaving him floating from group to group in search of anyone who will accept him. On Tuesday, he found refuge in a bunch of college kids who asked him to deliver a speech at the University of Virginia. Pence took to his surroundings pretty quickly and did everything one would expect of a first-year student: He adopted slang that made him sound foolish, he straight-up lied, and he overstated his past experiences to make himself look cool.
04.13.22-FOOL SPEAKS-Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has been an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies ― but her latest social media jab was a spectacular misfire. On Monday, the Republican senator tweeted that “Tennesseans want a wall on our southern border.” Her comment drew a chorus of jeers, with many Twitter users pointing out that Tennessee is located more than 1,000 miles away from the U.S. southern border.
04.12.22-HYPOCRACY OVERLOAD-After relentless Republican complaints and about Hunter Biden’s international business work while his father was vice president, critics find it particularly rich that the Saudis invested a massive $2 billion in a Jared Kushner fund shortly after he left his senior adviser role in a Trump administration remarkably accommodating to the Saudis. Walter Shaub, director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in the Obama and Trump administrations, told Bloomberg “The real concern here is that the public has no way of knowing exactly what favors someone like Kushner may have done for the Saudis.”
04.11.22-THEN LET'S DO IT! -The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has enough evidence to refer Trump for criminal charges, the vice chair of the panel, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), said Sunday. “It’s absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,” Cheney told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
04.10.22-DUMP THIS LYING TRUMPER-A federal appeals court has revived a constitutional challenge to Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s (R-N.C.) right to run for reelection because of his support for insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered earlier this week that a hearing against an injunction halting the challenge obtained by Cawthorn be held May 3. The Republican primary in Cawthorn’s district is May 17. (the 14th amendment is being used here)
04.08.22-SCUM JR. - Two days after the 2020 presidential election, as votes were still being tallied, Donald Trump’s eldest son texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that “we have operational control” to ensure his father would get a second term, with Republican majorities in the US Senate and swing state legislatures, CNN has learned. In the text, which has not been previously reported, Donald Trump Jr. lays out ideas for keeping his father in power by subverting the Electoral College process, according to the message reviewed by CNN. The text is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. “It’s very simple,” Trump Jr. texted to Meadows on November 5, adding later in the same missive: “We have multiple paths We control them all.”
04.07.22-LET'S NAIL THIS JERK- New York’s attorney general asked a court Thursday to hold Trump in contempt and fine him $10,000 per day for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents in her ongoing civil investigation into his business practices. Attorney General Letitia James argued in court papers that Trump should be fined “a sum sufficient to coerce his compliance” after he missed a March 31 court-imposed deadline to turn over the documents.
AND
Justice Dept. to investigate Trump’s 15 boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago
04.06.22-THE GOP IS TRULY PUTIN'S PARTY- The House on Thursday evening passed a nonbinding resolution reaffirming its "unequivocal support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as an alliance founded on democratic principles," The resolution passed 362 to 63, with all 63 no votes coming from Republicans. Weakening or destroying NATO is believed to be one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's top goals.
04.05.22-DISGUSTING TRASH! -Conspiracy theory-endorsing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) faced fierce backlash on Monday for a vile attack on three fellow Republicans. Greene used her congressional account to tweet the baseless accusation that GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitt Romney (Utah) are “pro-pedophile” because they said they will vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. More of what this witch said- “You are either a Senator that supports child rapists, child pornography, and the most vile child predators,” Greene said in a Twitter thread. “Or you are a Senator who protects children and votes NO to KJB!”
04.04.22-OF COUSE THEY ARE MISSING! -Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said lawmakers on the Jan. 6 House select committee are deeply interested in the 7-hour gap in Trump’s White House phone logs on the day of the Capitol riot, saying it seems to be “suspiciously tailored” to the period when the unprecedented assault took place.
04.02.22-MORE LIES-Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) now insists his controversial video message to a white nationalist conference was due to a “miscommunication” by an aide, Politico reported. Gosar finally spoke out five weeks after his videotaped address to the America First Political Action Conference triggered a furious backlash. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke in person at the conference, which was organized by controversial far-right leader Nick Fuentes.
04.01.22-THE BIGGEST APRIL FOOL-TRUMP
(also, a traitorous liar!)
03.31.22-THEY SHOULD MARRY RUSSIA-Tucker Carlson and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s defenses of Russian President Vladimir Putin have evidently landed them comfortably in the Kremlin’s good graces. During a broadcast on Russian state television this week, Gabbard was apparently referenced in very friendly terms by one of Putin’s most prominent propagandists, Vladimir Soloviev. He introduced Gabbard, a Democratic primary candidate for the 2020 presidential race, as “our girlfriend Tulsi,” according to a translation by Russian media analyst Julia Davis, a columnist for the Daily Beast. A clip was then aired of Gabbard’s appearance on Monday’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in which she suggested President Joe Biden was secretly plotting to remove Putin from power. After the clip aired, a panelist reportedly asked, “Is she some sort of Russian agent?” According to Davis’ translation, Soloviev said she was.
03.30.22-Headline Day Mehmet Oz goes full climate denial, says carbon dioxide isn't a problem. (Oz is a phony) Trump's Truth Social app has plummeted in sign-ups and traffic since its technically challenged launch last month. (Predictable) Putin may be accused of slaughtering children and overseeing other war crimes in Ukraine, but that’s not stopping Trump from asking him for political help again. He is now asking Putin to find damaging information on his successor’s son. (Traitor Trump) Koch Industries refuses to close Russian plants. (Another traitor)
03.29.22-SCUM REPORT-Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance on Monday supported Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) speaking engagement at a white nationalist conference last month, insisting: “She did nothing wrong.” Greene spoke in person at the America First Political Action Conference, whose organizer complained to the audience that the nation had forgotten “young white men.” Participants hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a hero and chanted his name.
03.26.22-TRUMP'S KINDA GUY-In Trump’s GOP, shamelessness can be a kind of superpower. But in Missouri, Eric Greitens is testing the limits of his party’s post-shame politics. Forced to resign from the governorship after a lurid sex scandal, Greitens is nevertheless the leading Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. And there has been speculation that an endorsement from Trump himself might be forthcoming. Greitens also now faces allegations from his ex-wife that he “was physically abusive and demonstrated such ‘unstable and coercive behavior’ that steps were taken to limit his access to firearms.”
03.25.22-GOOD ONE JOE! -President Joe Biden on Thursday said he’d relish a 2024 rematch with his predecessor, Trump. “I’d be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me,” Biden told reporters at an emergency summit with NATO leaders in Brussels to tackle Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s shade toward Trump followed a question about concerns in Europe that the coordinated response to the war could come undone if Trump wins back the White House.
03.24.22-A HUMAN CANCER-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., keeps peddling pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine talking points. Unfortunately for the far-right conspiracy theorist, she has zero credibility on the matter.
03.23.22-TRUMP THE LUNATIC-Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) on Wednesday issued a blistering response to Trump's decision to unendorse him in the Alabama Senate race, accusing Trump of asking him to remove President Biden from the White House following the 2020 election despite his protests. "President Trump asked me to rescind the 2020 elections, immediately remove Joe Biden from the White House, immediately put President Trump back in the White House, and hold a new special election for the presidency," Brooks said in a statement. "As a lawyer, I’ve repeatedly advised President Trump that January 6 was the final election contest verdict and neither the U.S. Constitution nor the U.S. Code permit what President Trump asks. Period."
03.22.22-STUPID CRUD-Cruz began his opening statement at Monday's Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson by telling Jackson and the cameras that "Supreme Court confirmations weren't always controversial." In fact, he said, "Bushrod Washington, when nominated to the Supreme Court in 1798, was confirmed the very next day." It is true that Washington, a favorite nephew of George Washington, was confirmed by voice vote one day after his nomination by President John Adams. "He was definitely controversial, largely because of his actions as an enslaver." For one thing, Washington brought enslaved African Americans back to Mt. Vernon after he inherited the Washington estate in 1802, upon the death of Martha Washington, who had freed the remaining slaves. That wasn't overly controversial in the Senate itself, where more than half the 31 senators at the time were also slaveholders, the Post reports. But when he sold 54 of those enslaved people for $10,000 to pay off his debts, and they were marched in chains to Louisiana, newspapers called his actions "excessively revolting."
03.19.22-HEADLINE DAY-WHEN WILL THIS END?
Trump accused of campaign finance violation for 2024 race in FEC complaint.
Mark Meadows investigated for possible voter fraud in North Carolina.
Top Putin Flack Serget Lavrov praises Fox news.
Sean Hannity sympathetically quoted word for word a personal attack on Joe Biden by one of Vladimir Putin’s henchmen as a springboard for his own dig at the president.
03.17.22-MISSED OPPORTUNITY-Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the White House during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and threatened to have Trump removed from office if he didn’t aggressively condemn the rioters, according to a new book. Graham phoned White House counsel Pat Cipollone as the Capitol attack unfolded and said, “We’ll be asking for the 25th Amendment,” authors Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns wrote in “This Will Not Pass.” Axios published an excerpt.
03.16.22-RAND PAUL IS STILL ON HIS WITCH HUNT BECAUSE HE COULD NOT BULLY DR. FAUCI-Sen. Rand Paul introduced an amendment Monday that would eliminate Dr. Anthony Fauci’s position as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, marking the latest escalation in his feud with the physician who gained national fame during the pandemic. Paul wants to scrap the singular role of NIAID director and replace it with three separate directors of newly created institutes: a National Institute of Allergic Diseases, a National Institute of Infectious Diseases and a National Institute of Immunologic Diseases.
03.15.22-THESE ARE GOOD WORDS-NOW VOTERS NEED TO TAKE ACTION-The Winston-Salem Journal pulled no punches with a blistering critique of Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), shredding the Trump apologist as “deplorable” and “North Carolina’s gift to Crazytown.” Cawthorn’s widely condemned criticism of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “a thug” amid Russia’s invasion of Zelenskyy’s country had the newspaper “truly seeing red.” The paper also listed some of the extremist lawmaker’s other controversies, from his racist dog whistles to support of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol. “The communities in our state’s 11th Congressional District have their share of problems, including the opioid crisis that has affected every other segment of society, underfunded educational resources and the challenge of drawing economic opportunities to help them thrive,” the newspaper wrote. “They would do better to elect a representative who addresses those issues rather than one who repeats Russian talking points and distracts them with culture wars.”
03.14.22-ANOTHER NASTY FOX NEWS LIAR-Fox News host Maria Bartiromo was put through the wringer after she absurdly claimed without evidence that the Biden administration sees Russian President Vladimir Putin more as a partner than an enemy. During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Sunday morning, the Trump apologist criticized President Joe Biden’s response to Russia’s war on Ukraine as “underwhelming and not enough.” She declared that unnamed sources told her they “feel” that the administration is cozy with the Russian dictator. “Some people have told me over the weekend that they feel that at the end of the day this administration does not see Putin as the enemy; they see him as a partner on many issues,” Bartiromo said. The assertion was baffling to many online commentators, given Bartiromo’s unwavering support for Biden’s predecessor, who notoriously fawned over Putin during his presidency. As Russian aggression mounted last month, Trump sparked furor for praising Putin as “savvy” and “genius” in surrounding Ukraine. Trump declined to condemn the autocrat or walk back the adulation, even after Sean Hannity fed him multiple prompts to do so last week.
03.11.22-DISGUSTING RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST-As the crisis in Ukraine continues, most elected officials in the United States have expressed support for their allies in Kyiv. There are, however, some notable exceptions Rep. Madison Cawthorn told a group of supporters this past weekend that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “thug” leading an “evil” government. “Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug,” Cawthorn said in a video obtained by WRAL. “Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.” GOP voices have curtailed such talk in the wake of the Russian invasion. When Rep. Liz Cheney complained about the GOP having a “Putin wing,” her comments didn’t come out of nowhere. Other lawmakers are already taking note of Cawthorn’s rhetoric. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona tweeted, in reference to the North Carolina Republican, that it’s “disturbing that he sits in our classified briefings on Russian Ukraine war. Not sure now that is a good idea.” We probably haven’t heard the last of this.
03.10.22-EVIL TWINS-THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND DESANTIS-The Miami Herald called out the GOP’s “terrifying tolerance of white supremacy and extremism” in a damning editorial following the indictment this week of far-right Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio for his suspected role in helping direct the U.S. Capitol riot. The newspaper’s editorial board noted that the arrest of Tarrio in Miami was “just the latest in a series of extremist connections to Florida, and to Republicans.” The “message of tolerance” for extremism has been spread, the board wrote, with Florida’s own Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis seeking to downplay the Jan. 6 insurrection and the participation of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) in a white nationalist conference in Orlando. “Republicans will, no doubt, continue to deny they have a white supremacy problem,” the editorial concluded. “And we can add this episode to the shameful list of extremist connections already distinguishing Florida.”
03.09.22-PENCE HOBNOBS WITH RACISTS IN WEST BANK-CLUELESS PENCE. SO STUPID HE IS DANGEROUS-Former Vice President Mike Pence (R) met with two prominent Jewish extremists during a visit to the Palestinian city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday. Matt Duss, a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), compared Pence’s meeting with the two men to a “foreign leader coming to the U.S. and hanging out with the Proud Boys,” a U.S. far-right gang. The pair represent the most violent and racist factions of the Jewish settler movement in the occupied West Bank, where Jews have the benefit of Israeli citizenship and Palestinian residents lack real political rights. Until 2020, Ben-Gvir featured in his home a photo of Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler who murdered 29 Palestinians while they were praying in 1994.
03.08.22-IS THIS NAZI GERMANY?-The Idaho House voted 51-14 to approve legislation with the potential to fine librarians $1,000 and send them to jail for a year for checking out material to a minor that could harm them. Opponents say the law is so undefined and subjective as to be unconstitutional. The bill's Republican sponsor refused to answer whether a classic young adult novel by Judy Blume that included masturbation could land a librarian in jail.
03.07.22-CRAZY STUPID-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attempted to blame Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Joe Biden Monday, only to be brutally humiliated by an acknowledged expert on the situation: Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. It started when the controversial lawmaker posted a tweet on Sunday claiming “Biden’s poor decision making leading up to Putin declaring war on Ukraine.” But Vindman, who as a former national security aide offered key testimony in Trump’s 2019 impeachment for dealings with Ukraine, refused to let Greene’s statement go by without a fact check. “Nope. It’s because you and your pro-Putin party encouraged Putin to invade, by cheerleading him,” Vindman responded. "The American people will not forget." Vindman’s wife, Rachel Vindman, also chimed in, calling Greene “crazy stupid” and asking, “why do you insist on telling us over and over?”
03.06.22-CHUMP--GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL-DO NOT PASS GO-The right-wing attorney who authored “coup memos” for Trump and supporters on how to scuttle the presidential election lost a court battle Friday to hold back his documents from the House select committee investigating last year’s Jan. 6 insurrection. Lawyer John Eastman claimed the situation had turned him into a “pseudo-defense attorney for the former president” — so the emails are thereby protected by attorney-client privilege. Eastman warned in his civil suit that granting the committee access to his emails involving the former president could amount to a historic legal finding that Trump may have committed a crime while he was a sitting president. “Were this Court to sustain the defendants’ claims, it may be the first formal finding of Presidential criminality by a federal court in United States history,” Eastman wrote. The committee argued Wednesday that Eastman’s records are indeed likely to show evidence of multiple crimes committed by both him and Trump, which would thereby trigger the “crime-fraud exception” to attorney-client privilege. The explosive filing alleged that Trump and key allies conspired to defraud the U.S. and obstruct an official congressional proceeding: the certification of electoral votes.
03.05.22-NASTY TRUMP SYNCOPHANT-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Friday repeated Trump’s 2020 election lie on live television and received a short, sharp fact check in response. Gaetz, during an interview with WEAR-TV, echoed Trump’s baseless claims of stolen votes and electoral corruption with his declaration that Trump was the actual victor over Democratic rival Joe Biden. “So, you’re still maintaining the 2020 election was stolen? Are we still going with that?” Solarski asked Gaetz. “Listen, I believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. I believe that he won the Electoral College,” Gaetz replied, even though Trump clearly did not win either the popular vote or the Electoral College. Solarski countered: “You can’t say that without saying there was a gigantic conspiracy across this country and supervisors and election offices to make this happen and we haven’t still seen any evidence that proves that.” Gaetz, who is reportedly currently the subject of a federal investigation, responded with a rambling answer about judges not having “the courage” to take up legal challenges to the result.
03.04.22-FLORIDA BULLY-Gov. Ron DeSantis scolded a group of teenagers on Wednesday for wearing masks while they stood behind him during a press conference at the University of South Florida. The Florida Republican told the students to take off their masks as he took the podium to speak about funding cybersecurity education opportunities through the university. The students were in high school. “You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off,” a visibly annoyed DeSantis told the students, all of whom were wearing masks. “Honestly, it’s not doing anything. We’ve got to stop with this COVID theater. So, if you want to wear it, fine. But this is ridiculous.” The comments were followed by some of the seven students taking their masks off. Several of the teens chose to keep their masks on for the press conference.
03.03.22-RACIST SCUM-Tucker Carlson on Thursday continued his outrage over Biden’s commitment to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court, this time questioning the qualifications of his nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and insulting her name. “So is Kentanji Brown Jackson ― a name that even Joe Biden has trouble pronouncing ― one of the top legal minds in the entire country?” the Fox News host said, mispronouncing Ketanji. “We certainly hope so. It’s Biden’s right. Appointing her is one of his gravest constitutional duties.” “So it might be time for Joe Biden to let us know what Kentaji Brown Jackson’s LSAT score was,” he said, mispronouncing her name again. “Wonder how she did on the LSATs? Why won’t he tell us that? That would settle the question conclusively as to whether she is a once-in-a-generational legal talent, the next Learned Hand.” As many legal experts pointed out, the LSAT, the law school admission test, has little to no relevance as a measure of proficiency in the legal field.
03.02.22-MORON TRUMP-Trump’s grasp on the geography of Russia wasn’t exactly first class, according to his former national security adviser John Bolton. Trump “barely knew where Ukraine was” and once asked if Finland was part of Russia. Bolton recalled Trump’s stunning lack of knowledge while countering Schmitt’s claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not invade Ukraine during Trump’s presidency because Trump took a “very tough stance” on the country. It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians" Trump “did not” take a tough stance on Russia, responded Bolton. The Trump White House did sanction Russia, he continued, but “in almost every case” the restrictions were imposed “with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard.” “It is just not accurate to say that Trump’s behavior somehow deterred the Russians,” Bolton said. “I think the evidence is that Russia didn’t feel that their military was ready.”
03.01.22-MORE RACIST REPUBLICAN CRAP-Three Republicans in the U.S. House were the only votes against a bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, named after a 14-year-old Black boy beaten and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, passed the House with an overwhelming vote of support, 422-3, on Monday. The bill would make lynching a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. The only three representatives to vote against the bill were Republicans Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Chip Roy (Texas). In a series of tweets, Massie explained he voted against the bill in part because “passing this legislation falsely implies that lynching someone does not already constitute criminal activity.” The bill doesn’t imply that. Instead, it gives federal authorities the power to prosecute lynchings as hate crimes.
02.27.22-FOLLOW-UP FROM 02.26.22-REAL REPUBLICANS-DO SOMETHING! Trump shouted out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) during a speech Saturday, one day after she was the surprise speaker at a white nationalist conference. As he began a rambling speech at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump included Greene in a list of Republicans he highlighted including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. On Friday, Greene spoke at the third annual conference in Orlando, organized by white nationalist figurehead Nick Fuentes. She spoke to a crowd that featured prominent right-wing figures and was followed by a series of racist and homophobic diatribes from prominent extremists. Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel called white supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry “disgusting” in a statement about Greene’s appearance. McDaniel did not explicitly mention Greene or the America First conference (coward).
02.26.22-THE WORST KIND OF TRASH-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke at a white nationalist conference in Florida on Friday evening. Greene, a QAnon conspiracist and rabidly anti-trans Republican, was the surprise speaker at the third annual America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, organized by white nationalist figurehead Nick Fuentes. Fuentes, an antisemite and racist who was recently subpoenaed for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, excitedly introduced Greene as the featured speaker from behind a lectern inside the Marriott Orlando World Center, according to a livestream of the event. (HuffPost was denied entrance to AFPAC.) In her speech, Greene referred to the assembled AFPAC crowd — among them prominent right-wing extremists who have been photographed giving the Nazi salute and reciting the infamous “14 words,” a white supremacist slogan — as “canceled Americans.” “You’ve been handed the responsibility to fight for our Constitution and stand for our freedoms and stop the Democrats who are the communist party of the United States of America,” Greene said. She also took time to attack transgender people, claiming Democrats have destroyed “gender” and “pronouns.” Her speech was immediately followed by a series of virulently racist and homophobic diatribes from prominent extremists.
02.25.22-TEXAS WANTS TO GO BACK TO 1950-A push by Texas politicians to criminalize health care for transgender children does not have the support of the medical community there. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Texas Pediatric Society and the Texas Nurses Association have all come out against efforts by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who want parents to be investigated if their sons or daughters are trans. Earlier this week, citing a non-binding opinion authored by Paxton, Abbott directed the state’s child welfare agency to consider gender-affirming treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies, as a form of “child abuse.” Under the directive, any licensed professional who has “direct contact with children” could face criminal charges for failing to report these treatments to the state. The Texas Nurses Association, the largest state nursing association in the country, roundly condemned the effort.
02,24,22-THIS %#@&* TRAITOR Tucker Carlson, downplaying Russia-Ukraine conflict, urges Americans to ask, ‘Why do I hate Putin?’ Carlson’s pro-Putin act is so helpful that Russian state television has been rebroadcasting it with Russian subtitles. Carlson “urged Americans to turn against their government on the grounds that higher costs for them, in exchange for a pointless stand against Putin, is a ‘terrible deal for you,’” as Will Saletan summed it up in a Bulwark story comparing him to Charles Coughlin, the WWII-era radio host who defended the Nazis and painted Jews as a conniving force pushing the United States into the European conflict.
02.23.22-PAY ATTENTION BOOK BURNERS! -A poll finds that 83 percent of Americans say books should never be banned for criticizing U.S. history; 85 percent oppose banning them for airing ideas you disagree with; and 87 percent oppose banning them for discussing race or depicting slavery. What’s more, 76 percent of Americans say schools should be allowed to teach ideas and historical events that “might make some students uncomfortable.” And 68 percent say such teachings make people more understanding of what others went through, while 58 percent believe racism is still a serious problem today. Finally, 66 percent say public schools either teach too little about the history of Black Americans (42 percent) or teach the right amount (24 percent). Yet 59 percent say we’ve made “a lot of real progress getting rid of racial discrimination” since the 1960s.
02.21.22-MORE LOONEY TUNES-A Republican House candidate claimed Saturday that college education turns young people into “radical, leftist, hating-America atheists.” “We know how important the youth are to our future because you can raise them the right way. You can work your butts off every day to put food on the table, send them off to college, and then what ends up happening?” said Christian Collins, a Republican candidate for Texas’ 8th Congressional district, at a rally just north of Houston at the Grace Woodlands church. “They go off to college not knowing what they believe sometimes, and their teachers, their professors, try to deconstruct everything that you’ve taught them. And they go off with the college that you paid for and come out radical, leftist, hating-America atheists, and they don’t have any usable skills to get employed. And then they’re even more cynical.” Collins has the support of some of the most vocal pro-Trump Republicans in Congress, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), both of whom attended his event. He also has the endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
02.20.22-ANOTHER CRIMINAL ACT-A furious Trump again complained Friday of being unfairly picked on by the Democrats and said that the uproar over the classified documents he spirited away to Mar-a-Lago was nothing more than an “ordinary” and “routine” presidential records process. The National Archives and Records Administration confirmed Friday that there were classified documents — some top secret — among at least 15 boxes of retrieved White House records Trump had taken to his Florida residence when he left office. By law, all of it was supposed to be handed over to the National Archives.
02.19.22-Trump was just trying to help. Instead, he just handed investigators more ammunition. On Monday, Trump’s lawyers filed documents alleging that he “denies knowledge”—and doesn’t even know enough “to form a belief”—about the way he allegedly slapped a 30-percent brand premium on some business properties in 2014. But the very next day, Trump said the complete opposite when he issued a lengthy statement to counter news that his long-time outside accounting firm, Mazars USA, had suddenly ditched him. He took the opportunity to show off his supposed previous net worth of $5.7 billion in 2014—and, more importantly, noted that it didn’t include the typical boost from the “enthusiasm” of the Trump brand. On Wednesday, prosecutors contended in a letter that Trump can no longer play clueless; he had just revealed that he knows “exactly what OAG is investigating.” “His answer is more than merely legally deficient: it plainly contradicts his public statements,” they wrote. That self-own was compounded on Thursday, when a state judge ordered him to turn over evidence about shady real estate values in a case about the Trump Organization’s alleged bank and tax fraud. Trump’s incessant need to boast ended up revealing he had more evidence to turn over.
He said too much—at just the wrong time.
“We’re talking about a guy who’s so in the habit of shooting his mouth off. I think this is quite damaging, and also unusual. Usually, people refer everything to their attorney,” said Daniel L. Feldman, a former attorney at the AG’s office who now teaches at the City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
And now that New York State Judge Arthur F. Engoron issued an order on Thursday compelling Trump to turn over documents, the New York AG’s lawyers can specifically ask for the information they now know exists.
02.18.22-To plead the Fifth, or not to plead the Fifth? That is the question Trump may face after a New York judge ordered him to testify in a long-running state civil investigation into his business practices. Trump’s lawyers are almost certain to appeal Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling Thursday that Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., have 21 days to comply with a subpoena seeking their testimony in a probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Barring a successful legal challenge, Trump would face a decision between answering questions under oath or remaining silent and invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination — a tactic he has equated with evidence of guilt. “The mob takes the Fifth,” Trump told a campaign crowd in Iowa when running for president. “If you are innocent, do not remain silent,” Trump tweeted in 2014, offering free advice as Bill Cosby faced a flurry of sexual assault accusations. “You look guilty as hell!”
02.17.22-PEOPLE KNEW AND LET IT HAPPEN-A Republican member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who had advanced knowledge of Trump’s Jan. 6 plans reportedly sent an alarming message to the White House in the days before the attack on the U.S. Capitol. “If POTUS allows this to occur… we’re driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic,” the unnamed lawmaker wrote to then-chief of staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 1 or Jan. 2, according to The Washington Post. On Wednesday, Post reporter Carol Leonnig said on MSNBC that the “particularly foreboding” message raises serious questions. “What exactly did that Freedom Caucus member mean by ‘this’?” she asked in comments highlighted by Raw Story. Leonnig said that it was possible the lawmaker was referring to the pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of the 2020 election in Congress (which he ultimately refused to do). “But what else could the ‘this’ be?” she asked. “How grim and chilling a piece of information is this, if this lawmaker knew something Trump was plotting beyond what we all know now?”
02.16.22-DESPERATE LIARS-During a segment on Tuesday on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke emergency powers to quell anti-vaccine mandate protests in Ottawa, Pirro griped that Trudeau “is now going to listen to” U.S. President Joe Biden. “Biden now has the final word on what you should do if someone is protesting peacefully. Biden, the same guy who in the summer of 2020 decided he would allow people to burn down streets and businesses and create all kinds of problems,” she said. Biden was a private citizen in 2020. Trump was president when the police killings of George Floyd and other Black men and women spurred nationwide protests against racial injustice that summer. Despite Pirro’s claim they created “all kinds of problems,” the protests against police violence and racism were overwhelmingly peaceful, according to Harvard research, though rioting and fires broke out in some cities after clashes between police and demonstrators.
02.15.22-GOOD NEWS-An accounting firm’s decision to cut ties with the Trump Organization spells very bad news for former President Donald Trump, according to conservative attorney George Conway. Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, sent a letter on Feb. 9 to Trump Organization executive vice president and chief legal officer Alan Garten notifying him of the firm’s decision to drop the business as a client. It also said that the financial statements it prepared for Trump between 2011 and 2020 “should no longer be relied upon.” Those statements are at the center of two investigations into whether Trump illegally inflated the values of his assets to defraud lenders. According to Conway, having a decade’s worth of financial statements pulled by accountants is “just about the most calamitous thing” that could happen to any business with outside financing or investors. “This is worse for him than being impeached twice,” he added.
02.11.22-THIS IS TODAY'S REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE-Jim Lamon, a Republican candidate for senator in Arizona, drew widespread condemnation on Thursday for a campaign ad in which he shoots at actors portraying President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Lamon plays a gun-slinging sheriff who blasts weapons out of the Democrats’ hands in the Western movie-style spot. The 70-second commercial dubs Biden “Old Joe,” Pelosi “Crazyface,” and Kelly “Shifty.” “The good people of Arizona have had enough of you. It’s time for a showdown,” Lamon says in the video that will reportedly air on television statewide on Sunday, including during the Super Bowl. Arizona has had enough of the DC Gang’s open borders, high gas prices, and shifty politicians pushing us around. Blake Masters and Michael McGuire, two of Lamon’s GOP rivals in the race, led the chorus of criticism. “Absurd and desperate,” Masters told The Arizona Republic. “Fits his campaign.” “Real violence and use of deadly force is no laughing matter,” said McGuire. “Violence in America is real and it isn’t funny. This ad shows poor judgment and isn’t reflective of the values of the Second Amendment. This ad will do more to boost Mark Kelly’s fundraising than to help Republicans.”
02.10.22-CRAVEN CRUZ-MSNBC’s Chris Hayes tore into Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for again downplaying the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Hayes said it’s all because of an “utterly humiliating” appearance on Fox News in which Cruz had to “beg for forgiveness” from Tucker Carlson for calling the assault a “terrorist attack.” Now, Hayes noted, Cruz is going even further to please Carlson. “Today, he is, of course, out attacking Mitch McConnell, which is the point of all of this conditioning that those folks are up to, hoping Trump or Tucker’s watching, and will tell him that he’s a good boy,” he said. This week, McConnell described the Jan. 6 attack as “a violent insurrection.” Cruz, in turn, accused McConnell of repeating “the political propaganda of Democrats.”
02.09.22-Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has engineering degrees from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but that didn’t stop him from being schooled by Twitter users on Wednesday. It happened after the conservative Kentucky congressman attempted to criticize “Medicare for All” by using a really, really dubious analogy. “Over 70% of Americans who died with COVID, died on Medicare, and some people want #MedicareForAll?” he asked rhetorically.
Sort of like saying: "100% of Americans who breathe air eventually die -- and some people actually want air?"
02.08.22-WHICH MITCH IS THIS? -Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday rebuked the Republican National Committee over its censure of Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) last week. “The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC,” McConnell said at a weekly press conference. “Traditionally the view of the national party committee is, we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues,” he added. McConnell also told reporters that the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was a “violent insurrection” meant to stop the peaceful transition of presidential power.
02.06.22-RNC CONFIRMS IT IS CRAZY! -The conservative National Review magazine on Saturday savaged its usual ally the Republican National Committee as “morally repellent” and “politically self-destructive” for how it recently addressed last year’s violent attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. The magazine slashed the RNC for censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Friday for daring to serve on the House select committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Particularly startling, in censuring the lawmakers, the RNC described the attack on the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse.” Some 140 police officers were injured when the mob stormed the Capitol that day and more than 740 people have been arrested in conjunction with the riot. “The action of the mob on January 6 was an indefensible disgrace,” the Review flatly declared in its editorial. “It is deserving of both political accountability and criminal prosecution. Aspects of it are also fit subjects for a properly conducted congressional inquiry. It is wrong to minimize or excuse what happened that day.” The RNC’s massive misstep in labeling the Capitol action “legitimate political discourse” is “political malpractice of the highest order coming from people whose entire job is politics,” the Review noted. It will be “used against hundreds of elected Republicans who were not consulted” in the drafting of the wording and “do not endorse its sentiment,” the magazine added.
02.04.22-WHY DOES THIS PERSON EXIST? -Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) received a free lesson in U.S. history after posting her latest tweet about the Constitution. “The Constitution is not evolving,” she wrote on Twitter. “To say that spits in the face of every single one of our founders.” In reality, the framers of the Constitution not only wrote it so that it could evolve, via amendments, but began using that process almost immediately with the passage of the Bill of Rights. At least three Democratic lawmakers pointed out the evolution of the Constitution is why women couldn’t vote when the document was written, but can today:
02.02.22-THIS IS A LUNATIC CRITICIZING A HYPOCRITICAL MORON-Trump was quick to label Lindsey Graham a “RINO”—Republican in name only—after learning that the South Carolina senator, one of the former president’s staunchest defenders, mildly criticized his suggestion that he’d pardon those prosecuted for participating in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol if he were to retake the presidency in 2024. “Well, Lindsey Graham’s wrong,” Trump told Newsmax on Tuesday when presented with Graham’s comments that the idea of pardons for insurrectionists was “inappropriate.” “I mean, Lindsey’s a nice guy—but he’s a RINO,” Trump said, adding that “Lindsey Graham doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about if he says that.” It was the latest turn in the strange friendship between the two men. As a 2016 presidential candidate, Graham famously compared the choice between Trump and Ted Cruz to being “shot or poisoned.” The South Carolina senator also once called Trump a “xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot.” But things dramatically shifted when Trump entered the White House, and Graham swiftly refashioned himself into one of the president’s most impassioned supporters. He told The View in 2018 that he no longer considered Trump a “xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot—as president.”
02.01.22-FLORIDA SCUM-The Miami Herald delivered a blistering rebuke of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, slamming him over his failure to outright condemn neo-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando over the weekend. The newspaper’s editorial board ripped DeSantis for downplaying the far-right group as “jackasses” and for then spinning questions about the protests into an attack on President Joe Biden and Democrats. “Denounce the Nazi demonstrators in Orlando, Gov. Ron DeSantis. It’s that simple. Say they are abhorrent. Say they are despicable. Say they have no part in this society or this state. But no,” the board wrote. When DeSantis “had his chance to condemn these demonstrators, when he could have simply said Nazis are bad people, when he could have made sure he didn’t give cover to those who hate, well, he didn’t,” the board added. “And all the manufactured anger at Democrats can’t cover up that telling silence.”
01.28.22-WHY DO THESE LIARS OPENLY LIE? ARE THEY JUST STUPID?-Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has found a new conspiracy theory to peddle about the effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines: that somehow, uncovered by the media, and silenced by government health officials, hordes of athletes are dropping dead on the field after getting the jab. First things first: They’re not. Johnson, the U.S. Senate’s resident COVID-19 truther, falsely told right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk that there have been 22,000 deaths related to the vaccine — a number that appears to come from an inaccurate and misleading report from anti-vaccine advocates that draws from an official public government database where anyone can report adverse health effects from vaccines. Then Johnson repeated a persistent conspiracy theory from anti-vaccine activists that professional athletes are literally dropping dead on the field because of the COVID-19 vaccine. “The Faucis of the world are just blowing it all off, the Biden administration [says] nothing to see here,” Johnson said. “Of course we’ve heard story after story, I mean, all these athletes dropping dead on the field. But we are supposed to ignore that.” This claim, which has been spread online through misleading videos, has been repeatedly debunked.
01.27.22-JAIL TIME COMING? -I HOPE! Dozens of local and state Republican leaders who showed their loyalty to Trump by casting fake electoral votes for him a year ago may now face prison time in return for that devotion. Because as the House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, starts to look into the origins of the scheme to send “alternate” ballots to Congress from states narrowly won by Joe Biden, the 59 ersatz Trump electors who claimed to be “duly elected and qualified” could face federal charges ranging from election fraud to mail fraud, in addition to a range of state-level charges. And in two of the states, the Democratic attorneys general are openly calling on the Department of Justice to act. “I believe it’s critical that the federal government fully investigates and prosecutes any unlawful actions in furtherance of any seditious conspiracy,” said Josh Kaul, attorney general of Wisconsin, where 10 Republicans filed papers claiming to be the state’s electors even though Biden narrowly won there. “This is a crime,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told reporters earlier this month, adding that calling the elector slate “alternate” did a disservice and that it should be called a “false, counterfeit, fake slate of electors.”
01.26.22-15th CENTURY WITCH HUNT, WHAT'S NEXT-BURNING AT THE STAKE? -Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) tip line seeking reports of what he describes as “divisive practices” in schools — such as the teaching of critical race theory ― has been hit with fake complaints. Singer-songwriter John Legend, meanwhile, urged Black parents to flood the Virginia line “with complaints about our history being silenced.”
01.24.22-YOU CAN LAUGH AT THIS ONE BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER THREATS BY LEFT-WING CRAZIES, WHICH IGNORE THE CONSTITUTION-Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich is facing criticism from some in his own party after suggesting over the weekend that members of the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection “face a real risk of jail.” On Sunday, Gingrich joined Fox News to talk about his op-ed in Newsweek, titled “The Wolves Will Become Sheep,” in which he compared the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot to Cuba’s “Castro brothers torturing, imprisoning and exiling political opponents.” He went further on Fox News, threatening jail for those committee members if Republicans retake control of Congress in this year’s elections.
01.22.22-PRESIDENTIAL TRAITOR TO THE CONSTITUTION-A draft executive order obtained by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection shows Trump considered seizing voting machines across the country after he lost the 2020 election, using debunked conspiracy theories as a pretext. Following the seizure, to be overseen by the secretary of defense, Trump would have then appointed a special counsel to pursue “all criminal and civil proceedings as appropriate,” a copy of the document obtained by Politico shows.
01,21,22-LOW AND HIGH
LOW-Giuliani Reportedly in Charge of Fake Electors Who Filed Fake Certificates for Trump. This is "not protected speech,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “It’s an attack on the very fabric of our system of government.”
HIGH-Onetime White House strategist Steve Bannon and former chief of staff Mark Meadows are in “deep doo-doo” now that the Supreme Court has ruled against former President Donald Trump’s claim of executive privilege to shield documents sought in the U.S. Capitol riot probe, warned law professor Neal Katyal.
01.20.22-HIGHS AND LOWS
HIGH! -Georgia DA Asks for Special Grand Jury to Investigate Trump Election Interference. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said that her office “has received information indicating a reasonable probability" that Georgia’s administration of elections in 2020 "was subject to possible criminal disruptions.”
HIGH! -Supreme Court Rejects Trump Request to Keep Records from Jan. 6 Committee. In an 8-1 decision, the court agreed that Trump cannot stop the release of White House records to lawmakers investigating the attack on the Capitol.
LOW! -Eric Trump Pleaded the Fifth More Than 500 Times in Deposition, Court Filing Says. The former president's son was interviewed by the New York attorney general's office in its civil probe into the Trump Organization.
01.19.22-UNBELIEVABLE, BUT THIS IS PART OF INSIDIOUS RIGHT-WING THINKING-MORE WILL COME-The Florida Department of Health on Tuesday placed a top official on administrative leave after he allegedly encouraged employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Raul Pino, director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, sent an email to employees earlier this month that was critical of the agency’s vaccination rate. Pino, a leading figure in the public response to the pandemic in the Orlando area, noted that only 77 of the 568 staffers had received booster shots and 219 employees had gotten two doses of coronavirus vaccines, according to WFTV, which first reported the story.
01.18.22-THIS GUY COULD BE WORSE FOR THE CONTRY THAN TRUMP-Florida governor proposes special police agency to monitor elections. The proposed Office of Election Crimes and Security would be part of the Department of State, which answers to the governor. DeSantis is asking the GOP-controlled legislature to allocate nearly $6 million to hire 52 people to “investigate, detect, apprehend, and arrest anyone for an alleged violation” of election laws. They would be stationed at unspecified “field offices throughout the state” and act on tips from “government officials or any other person.” “There’s a reason that there’s no office of this size with this kind of unlimited investigative authority in any other state in the country, and it’s because election crimes and voter fraud are just not a problem of that magnitude,” said Jonathan Diaz, a voting rights lawyer at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center. “My number one concern is that this is going to be used as a tool to harass or intimidate civic-engagement organizations and voters.”
01.17.22-I HOPE, I HOPE, I HOPE-Should Trump run for the White House again, an obscure Reconstruction-era law could keep him off the ballot in six southern states, including North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, because of his incitement of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The third section of the 14th Amendment prohibits people who swore to defend the Constitution, but who subsequently took part in an insurrection against the United States, from holding state or federal office. Other language in that post-Civil War amendment, though, makes many experts believe that only Congress can enforce the ban, which means Senate Republicans could block any such action. But the 1868 law that readmitted the six states put the burden on them to keep those who have been involved in insurrections from seeking office — potentially making it considerably easier to keep Trump off their primary and general election ballots. “It’s still on the books,” said Gerard Magliocca, a law professor at Indiana University who studies the Reconstruction period. He added that the language could help those seeking to disqualify Trump and other candidates who appeared to encourage the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. “The law is still there. And it could be appealed to. ” The six states affected by the 1868 law — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida — together have 88 electoral votes, or 33% of the total needed to win the presidency. Trump won all of them in 2020 except for Georgia, which he lost by 12,000 votes.
01.16.22-POLITICAL TRASH MAN Trump and his administration demonstrated “unprecedented” engagement in the census process in a brazen bid for Republican political gain, according to a newly released memo written by a frustrated Census Bureau official. The scathing memo from September 2020 appeared to be written by Census Bureau Deputy Director Ron Jarmin and sent to two other top Bureau officials as Trump was desperately pressing to end the population count weeks early in an attempt to manipulate it in favor of him and the GOP. The memo It complained about attempts to breach the privacy of census respondents, the use of estimates to fill in data, pressure to take shortcuts, and attempts to identify undocumented immigrants. Ultimately, the Trump administration was attempting to hijack an independent system governed by statistical science to serve Trump and the Republican Party, Jarmin suggested. Much of the meddling was aimed at population estimates used for reapportionment to calculate the allotment of seats in the House of Representatives. The Trump administration was particularly insistent that the Census Bureau separately tally the number of undocumented immigrants in each state, the memo noted.
01.15.22-DISGUSTING TRUMP SYNCOPHANT AND HYPOCRITE-The Washington Post tore into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) refusal to cooperate with a House select committee’s investigation into the U.S. Capitol riot. “No patriotic American should oppose such a probe,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. The Post called for the subpoena of key Trump ally McCarthy, a move it described as “unprecedented” but necessary because “his behavior amounts to a dereliction of his oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” “In his quest to become the next GOP House speaker, Mr. McCarthy has instead thrown in his lot with the enemies of democracy,” the editorial declared.
01.14.22-MORE REPUBLICAN CRIMINAL ACTS-Trump’s allies sent the government fake second sets of Electoral College documents in 2020 that falsely declared the then-president to be the recipient of the states’ electors. “They sent them in to the government as if they were real documents,” she added. “It wasn’t one state, it wasn’t three states where they did this — it was at least five states where we have now obtained forged documents created by Republicans,” MSNBC's Rachael Maddow said. The documents were signed by Trump supporters who claimed to be the rightful electors in states that Democrat Joe Biden won, even though they did not have backing or sign-off from any election officials. The documents were meant to challenge the states’ official slates of electors, who represented the Electoral College votes favoring Biden, with alternative lists of people who would back Trump.
01.13.22-LOW INFORMATION MORONS-A couple hundred protesters appeared outside the Washington state Department of Health on Wednesday, after "disturbing" COVID-19 vaccine-related falsehoods began spreading on social media late last week, The Seattle Times reports. The rumors claimed the state Board of Health was on the verge of authorizing "local health officials and police to round up people for refusing to get coronavirus vaccines and forcibly lock them up in quarantine facilities," writes the Seattle Times. Though there was in fact no such plan, the misinformation was seized upon by "anti-vaccine activists, some conservative radio hosts and at least three Republican congressional candidates."
01.12.22-HOW OFTEN DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN FOR ALL THE FOOLS TO WAKE UP? -GOP Activist Who Opposed COVID-19 Vaccine Rules Dies After Virus Complications. Kelly Canon had celebrated receiving a vaccine exemption and appeared to have attended a recent anti-vaccine "COVID symposium."
01.11.22-DOPE ALERT-White House press secretary Jen Psaki was forced to explain some basics about vaccines on Monday after Fox News reporter Peter Doocy tried to corner her with a question about breakthrough COVID-19 infections. “I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death,” Doocy said from the briefing room. “But I’m triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. You’re triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Why is the president still referring to this as a pandemic of the unvaccinated?”
“There’s a huge difference between that and being unvaccinated,” she said. “You are 17 times more likely to go to the hospital if you’re not vaccinated, 20 times more likely to die. And those are significant, serious statistics. So, yes, the impact for people who are unvaccinated is far more dire than for those who are vaccinated.” Hospitalizations in the U.S. have been driven largely by unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in the past six months, placing preventable strain on health systems.
01.10.22-FOX NEWS?-Trump received a dose of truth from an unexpected place on Sunday: Fox News. “In life, you have to learn to lose,” the network’s Brian Kilmeade told “Media Buzz” host Howie Kurtz when asked about Trump’s complaints of the 2020 election. Kilmeade, one of the hosts of “Fox & Friends,” also bluntly dismissed Trump’s cries of election fraud, telling him to put up or shut up. “If you did, in fact, get screwed out of this election, put together an A-team list of lawyers ― not the ones we witnessed ― and show us the districts and show us how,” Kilmeade said. “I have not seen any of that.”
01.09.22-INDIANA FOOL-Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin has backtracked on his shocking instructions to a history teacher during a legislative hearing this week not to criticize Nazism or fascism to his students. During the hearing Wednesday, teacher Matt Bockenfeld noted that his class was “learning about the rise of fascism and the rise of Nazism right now,” adding: “I’m just not neutral on the political ideology of fascism. We condemn it, and we condemn it in full.” The purpose, he said, is to help students “recognize it and combat it.
01.07.22-TWO DISGUSTING RIGHT-WINGERS-Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) begged Tucker Carlson for forgiveness on Thursday. His sin: intimating that some of the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 were terrorists. The one-time presidential candidate debased himself in front of millions of conservative viewers, attempting to atone for daring to criticize the MAGA rioters, but a prickly Carlson refused to accept his apology. The saga started the day before, on the eve of the anniversary of the riot, when Cruz referred to the historic insurrection attempt as a “violent terrorist attack” during a speech on the Senate floor. His remarks set off fierce backlash in the MAGAverse — which has grown increasingly hostile to criticism of Jan. 6 — culminating with Carlson lashing out at the senator during primetime on Wednesday evening.
01.04.22-AMERICA IN PERIL-Trump came so dangerously close to successfully orchestrating the overthrow of the U.S. government last year that he only needed a few extra radical loyalists to pull it off, warned a chilling essay Monday in the conservative website The Bulwark. Trump was just “five Rudys short” of a successful coup, cautioned longtime attorney and frequent Bulwark contributor Philip Rotner, referring to Trump’s rabidly loyal ally Rudy Giuliani.
01.03.22-FROM ONE DICTATOR TO ANOTHER-Former president Donald Trump made an unusual endorsement in a foreign election on Monday, offering his “Complete support” for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a right-wing populist leader accused of undermining the country’s democracy and moving toward autocracy during more than a decade in power. Six opposition parties have coalesced around Hungarian opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay in a bid to oust Orban, who has championed “illiberal democracy” and become a pariah among European Union members, in parliamentary elections planned for the spring.
01.02.22-BE REALLY SCARED!-A chilling item in a document log provided to Jan. 6 investigators describes a draft letter by Trump calling for the “seizure” of election materials after he lost. The log, along with a trove of documents, was provided last week to the House select committee probing the insurrection. They were handed over by Trump ally Bernard Kerik, former New York City police commissioner and a confidant of Trump’s one-time attorney Rudy Giuliani, Politico reported. Kerik was a key adviser to Trump’s legal team trying to cook up a narrative of fraud in the presidential election Joe Biden won. Besides the documents Kerik turned over to the committee, he also offered a log of documents he refused to provide, including the Trump letter, according to Politico. Among the documents withheld is one described as a “Draft Letter from POTUS to Seize Evidence in the Interest of National Security for the 2020 Elections.”
01.01.22-PENCE IS THE WORST KIND OF PRETENDER-A Capitol police sergeant seriously injured in the Jan. 6 insurrection called it a “disgrace” that former Vice President Mike Pence recently seemed to downplay the significance of the day after officers risked their lives to save his. “That one day in January almost cost my life,” Sgt. Aquilino Gonell told NPR in an interview this week. “We did everything possible to prevent him [Pence] from being hanged and killed in front of his daughter and his wife. And now he’s telling us that that one day in January doesn’t mean anything. It’s pathetic,” Gonell said. “It’s a disgrace.” Gonell was attacked by the mob on Jan. 6, 2021, and dragged by his leg. He still does not have full use of his left arm. “I could feel myself losing oxygen and recall thinking to myself, ‘This is how I’m going to die, trampled defending this entrance,’” he recounted in emotional testimony in July before a House committee investigating the riot. Now, he’s furious about Pence’s recent comments downplaying the significance of the day.
12.28.21-ANOTHER SENATE QUACK? -Dr. Mehmet Oz, Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, and his wife ranted about a “girl reporter” in a profanity-laced conversation overheard by Olivia Nuzzi, the “girl reporter” about whom they were complaining. Nuzzi called Oz’s wife Lisa Oz, who is also a television personality, while working on a profile of Oz for New York Magazine. Oz’s wife answered the phone and had a short conversation with Nuzzi before trying — and failing — to hang up. Nuzzi listened as the couple called her a “liar” and a “fucking girl reporter." When reached for comment about Oz’s remarks, Nuzzi told HuffPost she would let her story “speak for itself for now.” Oz, who spent years promoting potentially dangerous and questionable practices on “The Dr. Oz Show,” announced his candidacy for Senate in November. He’s running for a seat in Pennsylvania, despite maintaining a longtime residence in New Jersey.
12.24.21-GREASY GARBAGE GIULIANI-Two election workers who counted votes for the 2020 presidential election filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against the parent company of One America News, senior staff at the far-right TV network and Rudolph W. Giuliani, who served as a personal lawyer to Trump. Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who worked in Fulton County, Ga., allege that One America News and Giuliani, who frequently appears on the network, knowingly spread misinformation about them, including falsehoods that they logged illegal ballots for Joe Biden in the election. The two women “have become objects of vitriol, threats, and harassment … because of a campaign of malicious lies,” their attorneys wrote in the suit.
12.23.21-THE ONLY PRESIDENCY THIS WOULD DAMAGE IS HIS-Trump turned to the Supreme Court Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. A federal appeals court ruled against Trump two weeks ago, but prohibited documents held by the National Archives from being turned over before the Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in. Trump appointed three of the nine justices. Trump is claiming that as a former president he has right to assert executive privilege over the records, arguing that releasing them would damage the presidency in the future.
12.22.21-WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE JOE-In a rare moment of anger, President Joe Biden castigated social media users and cable news outlets that spread false and misleading information about coronavirus vaccinations, saying at a press conference Tuesday that the behavior is not only “immoral” but deadly. “The unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices, but those choices have been fueled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media,” he said while addressing the need for unvaccinated Americans to protect themselves against the fast-spreading new omicron variant “You know, these companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation that can kill their own customers and their own supporters. It’s wrong, it’s immoral,” he said, his voice rising. “I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it. Stop it now.” Biden did not identify any of his targets by name.
12.21.21-FOX NEWS HAS GONE COMPLETELY EVIL-Dr. Anthony Fauci is calling for Jesse Watters to be fired after the Fox News personality suggested people should "ambush" him and "go in for the kill shot." On Tuesday, CNN host John Berman asked Fauci for his reaction to Watters telling a conservative crowd to "ambush you with what he said was some kind of rhetorical kill shot." President Biden's chief medical adviser called the comments "horrible" and "such a reflection of the craziness that goes on in society." He also called for Fox to fire Watters.
12.20.21-IS THERE REALLY A QUESTION? Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday that the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is looking into whether former Trump committed a crime by trying to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election results. Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the committee, said that he wasn’t prepared to say yet if he believed Trump had broken the law, however, “by the end of our investigation, and by the time our report is out, [we’ll] have a pretty good idea.” “We’ll be able to, you know, have out on the public record anything Justice Department needs maybe in pursuit of that,” he added. “Nobody is above the law. And if the president knowingly allowed what happened on Jan. 6 to happen, and in fact was giddy about it, and that violates a criminal statute, he needs to be held accountable for that,” he said. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair of the panel, signaled at a hearing last week that Trump could have acted criminally.
12.19.21-HOTEL EVIL-Trump raked in payments from foreign interests at his Pennsylvania Avenue hotel in an operation that was the “epicenter” of a corrupt presidency, the head of a citizen watchdog organization says. “Anyone looking to curry favor with his administration could simply walk over to his namesake hotel a couple blocks from the White House and flash cash,” Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wrote in an opinion piece for NBC published Saturday. Bookbinder slammed the operation in the wake of a scathing report issued by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The report, released Thursday, asserts that Trump received payments ― unfettered and unmonitored ― through his hotel from foreign entities. The General Services Administration, in charge of monitoring the landmark Old Post Office property that the Trump Organization leases from the public, was found to have “ignored glaring constitutional issues.” The report also stated the administration “allowed for conflict of interest” when Trump refused to divest from the property while serving as president.
12.16.21-DEMOCRACY ON THE ROPES- Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) branded Rep. Jim Jordan a “traitor to the Constitution” after he admitted to sending a text to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 5 suggesting then-Vice President Mike Pence should stop the certification of the 2020 election. “Look, Jim Jordan is a traitor. He’s a traitor to the Constitution of the United States. He has been a traitor to the Constitution of the United States for quite a while, and now we actually have it in text,” Gallego told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Wednesday night on “The Last Word.” “Why is anybody surprised?” Gallego asked and pointed to Jordan’s lies on the House floor on Jan. 6 about voter fraud in states like Arizona. However, Gallego said Jordan was not his biggest concern. “My biggest issue is the fact that there’s a lot of people out there that are not taking this seriously,” Gallego said. “The fact that there is a slow-moving coup that is happening right now all over this country that are led by the Jim Jordans and other people.” Gallego described an insidious process whereby instead of people storming the Capitol to overthrow an election, supporters of former Trump’s “Big Lie” were trying to win state House and Senate seats and election administration roles so they could “actually overturn the future election.”
12.15.21-THE REAL FRAUD IS TRUMP HIMSELF-A team of Associated Press reporters spent months reviewing every possible voter fraud case in six battleground states disputed by former Trump, and they found "fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election," The cases are bipartisan. Some of those charged with fraud are registered Republicans or told investigators they were supporters of Trump." In fact, every specific case written up in the AP report involved a Trump supporter voting twice or casing a ballot illegally. Three apparent Trump supporters were recently arrested in Florida and charged with casting more than one vote, The Washington Post reports. The three residents of The Villages are charged with having voted in Florida and also another state — Michigan, New York, and an undisclosed state, the Post says, and they were arrested after the county elections supervisor ordered an investigation. All these cases "underscore that suspected fraud is both generally detected and exceptionally rare," AP reports, but "Trump's false claims of a stolen election fueled the deadly Jan. 6 attempted insurrection at the Capitol, have led to death threats against election officials, and have become deeply ingrained within the GOP, with two-thirds of Republicans believing Biden's election is illegitimate."
12.14.21-PATHETIC ONLY BEGINS TO DESCRIBE TRUMP-Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Trump “pathetic” and “crazy” for profanely attacking Benjamin Netanyahu because he recognized Biden’s presidential victory in November. Netanyahu, who was the Israeli prime minister throughout the Trump administration, did what most world leaders do: He recognized and congratulated the duly elected president of the United States, Olmert suggested in the opening session Monday of the Annual Leadership Dialogue on Israel-UK-Australia Relations. Yet Trump reportedly was furious that Netanyahu congratulated Biden after he won the election. “I haven’t spoken to him since. Fuck him,” Trump reportedly told Israeli journalist Barak Ravid in an interview earlier this year for Ravid’s new book, “Trump Peace.” Trump added: “I like Bibi [Netanyahu] ... but I also like loyalty.” He “could have stayed quiet. He made a terrible mistake.” Olmert called Trump’s reaction “absolutely crazy.” He accused Trump of judging everything according to his own “personal interest.” “Trump says the fact that Bibi congratulated Biden is a betrayal, as if the relationship of Israel and America rests entirely on the personal desires of Trump. This is absolutely crazy. I think he’s a pathetic person,” Olmert said. He pointed out that, contrary to Trump’s claims that Netanyahu congratulated Biden “very early,” he in fact waited so long that it “became embarrassing” from the “friendliest nation to America.”
12.13.21-A TYPICAL JAN. 6 MORON-A Trump supporter who bragged about her “infamy” after storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 didn’t even vote in the 2020 election, her lawyer said in a filing ahead of her sentencing on Friday. Gracyn Courtright, who went around the Capitol holding a wooden “Members Only” sign she swiped, was “caught up in the hysteria of the day” and responded on social media “without thinking about what she was saying” when she wrote on social media that “Infamy is just as good as fame. Either way I end up more known. XOXO” and that she couldn’t wait to “tell my grandkids” she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, her lawyer wrote.
11.17.21-THE FEMALE GULIANI-Ex-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell reportedly fell for 'far-fetched' QAnon conspiracy theory that claimed then-CIA director was in German custody. The Trump attorney believed Haspel had been injured while completing a secret CIA operation aiming to seize and destroy evidence of vote tampering on an election-related computer server, Karl reports. She thought the CIA was complicit. None of it was true. But Powell believed it, and wanted the Defense Department to immediately "send a special operations team over to Germany," locate the server, and "force Haspel to confess," Karl writes. Cohen, for his part, "thought Powell sounded out of her mind," and soon reported the call up the chain, according to Karl. A CIA spokesperson later further debunked any conspiracies, having told news outlets, "I'm happy to tell you that Director Haspel is alive and well and at the office."
11.16.21-OF COURSE HE KNOWS HE IS A LOSER-Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah riled up Trump by telling CNN that he admitted his election defeat to Joe Biden was legitimate. “He told me shortly after that he knew he lost, but then folks got around him,” she told CNN’s Pamela Brown on Saturday. “They got information in front of him, and I think his mind genuinely might have been changed about that, and that’s scary because he did lose.” Trump predictably snapped back at Farah on Monday, calling her a “clown,” a “nobody” and an “inglorious lightweight.” The recently married Farah, who also was a spokesperson for former Vice President Mike Pence and the Pentagon, reacted to Trump’s venom with a sense of humor. “I see I have honeymoon well wishes from my former boss! Too kind!” Farah tweeted.
11.15.21-THIS WOMAN IS CREEPY-Maria Bartiromo, among Fox Corp.’s biggest on-air enablers of Trump’s falsehoods about election fraud, used her media clout to vent to then-Attorney General William Barr after Trump’s defeat, according to a new book. In mid-November 2020, the Fox News and Fox Business host “called Barr to complain that the DOJ hadn’t done anything to stop the Democrats from stealing the election,” journalist Jonathan Karl recounted in “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.” Karl, the ABC News chief Washington correspondent, confronted Bartiromo about Barr’s assertion because “after all, it’s highly inappropriate for a journalist to call the attorney general and demand he do something related to a criminal investigation.”
11.14.21-HOW MANY LUNATICS DOES THE FAR-RIGHT HAVE?-Michael Flynn Demands 'One Religion Under God' At Far-Right Rally. In his latest journey to the edge of extreme, Trump’s former national security adviser and felon called for a single religion in America. “If we are going to have one nation under God — which we must — we have to have one religion,” Flynn said in San Antonio at a stop for the far-right “ReAwaken America” tour. Such a vision is completely contrary to the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state. The ReAwaken America tour features Flynn and other Trump allies, such as Roger Stone and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell. It also highlights anti-vaccine doctors ―including controversial Stella Immanuel, who believes that some medical conditions are caused by demonic sperm when “demons” have sex with humans in their dreams. Flynn — who was pardoned early this year by Trump after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI — has made several jaw-dropping comments in the past. In May he called for a Myanmar-like deadly military coup in America. In July, when he was gifted a new AR-15-style rifle at a church, he said: “Maybe I’ll find somebody in Washington.” In September he was worried about COVID-19 vaccines being added to salad dressing. But critics appeared especially appalled at his latest position. Retired Gen. Mark Hertling called Flynn an “embarrassment to the U.S. Army,” and his words “disgusting.”
11.13.21-FOX WON'T STOP ITS DECEPTION- Fox News edited video of President Joe Biden on Friday to remove context from remarks that some could judge as racially insensitive. In Veterans Day comments made Thursday, Biden told an anecdote that referenced baseball player Satchel Paige, who had pitched in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. On “Fox & Friends,” Rachel Campos Duffy said Biden was “facing backlash” for comments at Arlington National Cemetery. In his comments, Biden said he had “adopted the attitude of the great Negro, at the time pitcher in the Negro Leagues, went on to become a great pitcher in the pros in Major League baseball after Jackie Robinson, his name was Satchel Paige.” But when Duffy played the clip, it was edited so Biden was heard saying he had “adopted the attitude of the great Negro at the time, pitcher, name was Satchel Paige.” Duffy said Biden’s remarks were “landing him in hot water.” While “Negro” was once a common way to refer to Black people and still appears in organization names, the terms “Black” and “African American” are more widely used today.
11.12.21-TOTAL MADNESS-The White House was quick to set the record straight on Thursday after Trump claimed he had sent an “envoy ambassador” to the Kosovo-Serbia border. “Outside of his very active imagination, Trump is no longer president and doesn’t have any ‘envoy ambassadors’ representing the United States,” a White House official told reporters. Trump released a statement earlier claiming his “envoy ambassador” Richard Grenell, a former ambassador and staunch ally, had visited the countries Thursday to highlight an economic normalization agreement his administration brokered in 2020. It’s not the first time Trump or his allies have acted as though he is running some kind of shadow presidency. His ongoing denial and delusions over his 2020 election loss have extended to the point where he has reportedly continued to hold “Cabinet” meetings, though it’s unclear who has participated in them.
11.11.21-SHADES OF 1984 AND OF NAZI GERMANY-WHO DECIDES AND HOW DO THEY? Virginia's Spotsylvania County School Board voted 6-0 earlier this week to order public school libraries to remove and catalog all "sexually explicit" books from their libraries, after a parent at one high school complained about "LGBTQIA" fiction prominently displayed in the school's digital library app, Two of the board members wanted to go farther. "I think we should throw those books in a fire," said one member, Rabih Abuismail. He said one young adult book about homeless teenagers trying to escape troubled pasts, 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp, proved public schools "would rather have our kids reading gay pornography than about Christ." Fellow board member Kirk Twigg said he'd like to "see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff." But the Virginia case isn't unique, and advocates say the coordinated effort to cancel certain types of books is unusually strident. "Particularly when taken in concert with the legislative attempts to control school curricula, this feels like a more overarching attempt to purge schools of materials that people disagree with," the National Coalition Against Censorship's Nora Pelizzari told the Post. Many of the books being challenged and removed from shelves (sometimes temporarily) — in Kansas, Pennsylvania, and especially Texas — have to do with racism. Texas state Rep. Michael Krause (R) launched a review last month targeting books that "might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress" due to their "race or sex."
11.10.21-THEY JUST KEEP LYING AND LYING-The subject of a false claim is a Democratic early childhood initiative designed to make decent, affordable child care available to all Americans who want it. To hear some conservatives tell it, churches and other religious organizations offering child care couldn’t be part of the program. This is simply not true. The primary way it would help families would be through subsidies, which families could use to defray their child care costs. And a passage on Page 163 of the bill states: “Nothing in this section shall preclude the use of such [subsidies] for sectarian child care services if freely chosen by the parent.” This passage is not especially hard to spot. It is the third full sentence of the legislation’s child care section. But several conservatives seem to have missed it.
11.09.21-REPUBLICANS-THIS IS YOU-More than half a dozen House Democrats, one House Republican and scores of critics have condemned and called for action against Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) Monday after he posted a doctored anime video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Gosar tweeted an edited version of the opening credits of the Japanese anime series “Attack on Titan” showing himself as the main character who then slashes the neck of a foe with Ocasio-Cortez’s face. He also swings his swords at an enemy with President Joe Biden’s face superimposed on it. Gosar, whose own family members have taken out ads decrying his behavior in the past, has repeatedly been linked to the planning of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and once defended the Donald Trump supporters who stormed the building as “peaceful patriots.” Ocasio-Cortez responded to the incident by highlighting Gosar’s white nationalist ties. She tagged House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, saying that Gosar would “face no consequences” because the Republican leader “cheers him on with excuses.”
11.08.21-MTG-MOST TEDIOUS GIBBERISH-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Saturday slapped down colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), reminding her that federal infrastructure funds she called “communist” built the nation’s highway system. Greene viciously slammed the 13 House Republicans (including Kinzinger) who voted to pass the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure and Jobs Act on Friday. She claimed in a tweet late Friday after the vote that they “handed over their voting cards ... to pass Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America via infrastructure.” She named all 13 Republicans — with their phone numbers in a separate tweet — in the bipartisan effort. (Some on Twitter said they were grateful for the list so they could call in their thanks.) A later tweet by Greene characterized the infrastructure package as “socialist,” not communist. Kinzinger schooled Greene on “communism” and the American government’s role in helping to build a nation. “Infrastructure=communism is a new one,” Kinzinger mocked. Republican President Dwight D. “Eisenhower’s interstate system should be torn up or else the commies will be able to conveniently drive! Red Dawn in real life,” he quipped.
11.07.21-CHIEF CLOWN AWARD GOES TO-Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani — who has relentlessly, baselessly railed against a rigged presidential election — admitted in a videotaped deposition that he didn’t actually verify certain claims he made about election fraud and Dominion Voting Systems because he didn’t “have the time.” “It’s not my job, in a fast-moving case, to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that was given to me.” “Otherwise, you’re never going to write a story. You’ll never come to a conclusion.” In the sworn deposition from August, Giuliani recalled: “We had a report that the heads of Dominion and Smartmatic ... went down to Venezuela for a get-to-know meeting with [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro so they could demonstrate to Maduro the kind of vote fixing they did for [former President Hugo] Chávez.” As for any verification of that report actually being true, Giuliani said: “Sometimes I go and look myself, online — when stuff comes up. This time, I didn’t have the time to do it.” Giuliani said he “was told” the Dominion information before his press conference a year ago where fellow extremist attorney Sidney Powell railed about Dominion’s unsubstantiated Venezuela connection. Dominion has also sued her for $1.3 billion for defamation.
11.05.21-THIS FROM A FLIP-FLOPPER ON MANY ISSUES-SHE SHOULD HAVE THIS TEST. WHO CHAGES POSITION THAT MUCH? CRAZY PEOPLE? -Nikki Haley suggested this week that older candidates for political office should have to undergo cognitive tests, and was mocked for saying it would be very similar to candidates having to release their tax returns. “If you’re going to have anyone above a certain age in a position of power — whether it’s the House, whether it’s the Senate, whether it’s vice president, whether it’s president — you should have some sort of cognitive test. Just like you have to show your tax returns, you should have some sort of health screening so that people have faith in what you’re doing,” she said Thursday. “Right now, let’s face it, we’ve got a lot of people in leadership positions that are old. And that’s not being disrespectful. That’s a fact,” added Haley, 49, a potential 2024 presidential candidate. “And when it comes to that, this shouldn’t be partisan. We should be looking at the ages of the people who are running our country.”
11.04.21-OF COURSE THIS HAPPENED-AND TAKE AWAY THEIR NON-PROFIT STATUS-A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the gun control advocacy group Giffords alleges the NRA used a network of shell companies to funnel millions of dollars to Trump and other Republicans. “Over the past seven years, the NRA has engaged in an ongoing scheme to evade campaign finance regulations by using a series of shell corporations to illegally but surreptitiously coordinate advertising with at least seven candidates for federal office,” the complaint reads. Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog, filed the suit on behalf of Giffords. Giffords, a nonprofit group, was founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in the head in 2011 at a meeting with constituents in a shooting that left 13 people dead. “Through this scheme, two NRA affiliates made up to $35 million in illegal, excessive, and unreported campaign contributions across the 2014, 2016 and 2018 elections, including up to $25 million to the Trump campaign in 2016,” the lawsuit alleges. “These coordinated contributions violate the Federal Election Campaign’s Act’s (‘FECA’) contribution limits, corporate contribution ban, and disclosure requirements.” Lawmakers named in the suit who are accused of receiving campaign money from the gun group’s alleged scheme are Republicans Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.), as well as Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and former Sen. Cory Gardner (R- Colo.).
11.02.21-MORON ALERT!-Trump demonstrated virtually no knowledge of the conduct of modern elections procedures in a long and rambling phone call with Georgia’s top elections administrator as he ticked off a host of debunked and fanciful conspiracy theories he blamed for his electoral defeat. The man on the other end of that call in early January, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), details months of mistruths and disinformation perpetuated by the Trump campaign that led up to their conversation in a new book out Tuesday, “Integrity Counts.”
11.01.21- WHAT IS HE HIDING?-Trump is trying to block documents including call logs, drafts of remarks and speeches and handwritten notes from his chief of staff relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection from being released to the committee investigating the riot, the National Archives revealed in a court filing early Saturday.
10.31.21-HEY FLORIDA-DO SOMETHING!-The Orlando Sentinel editorial board slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as a “fraud” in a new column, ripping him as “Orwellian” for now trying to take credit for low COVID-19 case numbers in the state. “Florida led the nation in case rates for much of the summer, and our governor was silent. Well, not totally silent. He did rail against mask and vaccine mandates, measures intended to prevent people from falling ill,” the board noted in the damning essay published Friday. “Now, a governor whose sole contribution to fighting the outbreak was to expand antibody treatments for people after they got infected is taking full credit for the decline in cases,” it charged. DeSantis was hammered in the editorial as a “fraud” and a “phony” for having “the gall, the nerve, to take a victory lap.” The board listed just some of the things he didn’t do in a bid to thwart the pandemic. “And now, the do-nothing governor is trying to claim credit for this surge coming to an end,” the editorial concluded. “It is DeSantis’ final and most essential command — to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. How Orwellian.”
10.30.21-Republican 'Cowards' Are Empowering The 'Crazies,' Rages Paul Krugman.
"Republicans who clearly know better ... reliably swallow their misgivings and go along with the party line," the economist wrote in The New York Times. Conspiracy theorists railing about “rigged” elections and calling climate change a “hoax” are bad enough. Just as threatening are Republican “cowards” who empower the frightening fringe, economist Paul Krugman argued Thursday in an opinion piece for The New York Times. “When we talk about the GOP’s moral descent, we tend to focus on the obvious extremists, like the conspiracy theorists who claim that climate change is a hoax and Jan. 6 was a false flag operation,” Krugman wrote. “But the crazies wouldn’t be driving the Republican agenda so completely if it weren’t for the cowards, Republicans who clearly know better but reliably swallow their misgivings and go along with the party line,” he added. “And at this point crazies and cowards essentially make up the party’s entire elected wing.”
10.29.21-DANGER-MORONIC FOX NEWS VIEWERS WILL BELIEVE THIS CRAP- Fox News veteran Geraldo Rivera Blasts Tucker Carlson For 'Inflammatory,' 'Outrageous' Jan. 6 Riot Denial "The record to me is pretty damn clear that there was a riot that was incited and encouraged and unleashed by Trump,” Rivera told The New York Times. Rivera slammed Carlson on Thursday over “inflammatory” and “outrageous” claims in Carlson’s upcoming series claiming that the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol was secretly orchestrated by the government against itself.
10.28.21-BLOCKHEAD BOEBERT BLUNDERS-Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) tweet of a biblical passage about secrets could come back to haunt her, critics predicted. On Wednesday, the conspiracy theory-endorsing lawmaker shared Luke 8:17, which in the Bible’s New King James Version reads: “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” Tweeters mockingly suggested Boebert ― a Donald Trump acolyte who often self-owns on the social media platform ― may have been talking about her alleged involvement in the planning of the Jan. 6 insurrection, as reported by Rolling Stone on Sunday. Boebert denied the report. Other detractors proposed what they suggested were more suitable Bible verses: Proverbs 6:16-19 – For there are six things the Lord hates—no, seven: haughtiness, lying, murdering, plotting evil, eagerness to do wrong, a false witness, sowing discord among brothers. Is your soul clean Rep? Think on it tonight…
10.27.21-Stephen Colbert’s team has uncovered what it’s calling “Fox News’ craziest Trump lie yet.” It happened this week, when Fox News personalities Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino claimed Trump “enjoyed the White House” and not only spent his weekends there, but worked through those weekends. Neither Trump nor Biden have been especially fond of spending weekends at the White House. A new CNN analysis found that Biden spent all or part of 108 of his first 276 days in office away from the White House (including partial days, such as when he was in the White House on Friday but left for Delaware in the evening). Most of those days away were on weekends. Trump’s tally was 70 at this point his presidency. However, he ultimately spent more than half of his weekends at one of his own resort properties, with The Washington Post tallying 240 out of 418 weekend days ― 57% ― spent at a Trump resort. Trump spent 428 days of his presidency at a Trump Organization property, or 1 out of every 3.4 days, that analysis found.
10.25.21-ANOTHER LUNATIC IN THE MAKING-Just as Florida’s COVID situation is improving after leading the nation in cases and deaths, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is now offering bonuses to anti-vax cops in other states to work in Florida and interact with the public. “On a scientific basis, most of those first responders have had COVID and have recovered,” DeSantis told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. He offered no evidence that police refusing to comply with their local vaccine mandates have contracted and recovered from the disease.
10.23.21-MARJORIE TAYLOR GHOUL-CNN’s Jake Tapper came down hard on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday, declaring she has “real issues” and is “not tethered to reality.” He was referring to Greene’s outburst Thursday when, as described by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), she “started screaming” at Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). The House was voting to support the criminal contempt resolution against Trump’s former White House strategist Steve Bannon after Bannon ignored a subpoena to testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Greene blasted fellow lawmakers for not punishing Black Lives Matter protesters and singled out Cheney by calling her a “joke.” Cheney, in turn, said Greene was a “joke” who has pushed the wild claim that Jewish-funded “space lasers” were responsible for wildfires. “Congressman Raskin and Congresswoman Cheney are talking on the floor and, according to my sources .... Congresswoman Greene goes over to them and she starts screaming at them,” Tapper said to his CNN co-hosts. “Look, I’m not a licensed psychologist, I don’t know her, but her behavior suggests somebody that has real issues, that is not tethered to reality or basic standards of decent behavior,” Tapper said. He also referred to Greene’s conspiracy theory that “wealthy Jewish Americans were using laser technology to cause fires in California for some financial incentive.” “I mean, it is a deranged anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, and yet that is somebody with whom many Republicans are siding,” Tapper added. “Marjorie Taylor Greene and Liz Cheney really represent the two doors for the Republican Party right now. Which one does the Republican Party want to emulate?” he asked. Greene is known for her outbursts. Last month, she yelled at a group of Democrats as they held a press conference on the steps of the Capitol about legislation to guarantee the right to an abortion. Greene loudly interjected that “unborn women” have a “right to life.”
10.22.21-ANOTHER REPUBLICAN DISTORTION-Biden doesn’t want the IRS scrolling through your bank records The IRS would be gathering more information from Americans’ bank accounts under President Biden’s plan to discourage tax-dodging and round up more money for his “Build Back Better” agenda. But there’s a difference between what Democrats have proposed — reporting the total inflow and outflow for any account with more than $10,000 in annual transactions, excepting all wages and federal benefits — and what Republicans say about it. “Under this proposal, the intimate financial details of everyone in this room, at a minimum of every American who has a job, will be turned over on a daily basis to the IRS,” said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), one of several GOP senators who claimed at a news conference this week that the IRS would be snooping on Americans’ bank records. This level of scrutiny does not appear anywhere in the Democrats’ proposal, as confirmed by tax experts from the center-left and center-right. Banks would report once a year, not daily. The IRS would not be monitoring individual transactions under Biden’s plan. The new reporting requirement would cover the totals for money coming in and money going out, not the blow-by-blow of how people spent their money.
10.21.21-BELIEVE THIS!-Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke says Trump and Fox News host Tucker Carlson owe him credit after taking his racist ideas about "white replacement” to the mainstream. On Wednesday, the liberal watchdog group Media Matters shared audio clips from Duke’s podcast (yes, even he has a podcast) in which the former KKK grand wizard boasted that his own failed political campaigns inspired ideas Trump championed during his presidency. “Trump really knows what his movement is based on,” Duke said. “You know, [Trump] had to know that I ran my campaigns primarily on the immigration issue, on fair trade issues, on the issues of preserving American culture, on stopping the replacement of European Americans — which people are all talking about now.”
10.20.21-THIS IDIOT IS DANGEROUS AND OUT OF CONTROL-GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn's Unhinged Parenting Advice Panned As 'Dangerous.’ Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) urged mothers to raise their sons to be monsters in an off-the-rails speech slammed on social media as “dangerous” and sociopathic. The extremist first-term lawmaker said society wants to “de-masculate young men” because “they don’t want people who are going to stand up” in footage shared online Monday by activist group Right Wing Watch. It’s unclear where the video was filmed, but it’s now going viral. “All you moms here — the ones who I said are the most vicious in our movement — if you are raising a young man, please raise them to be a monster,” added Cawthorn, who’s pushed Trump’s election lies, warned “bloodshed” will be inevitable if “our elections continue to be rigged,” and once posed for pictures at Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s vacation retreat. Cawthorn has been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by former classmates at a Northern Virginia Christian college. Four women told BuzzFeed News Cawthorn was aggressive, misogynistic, or predatory toward them. Cawthorn’s comments on the video were cheered by those in his audience. But he was denounced by many on Twitter. “America is an exceptional nation precisely because we don’t raise monsters,” responded Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.). “Radical Republicans are dangerous.” Others accused Cawthorn of wanting to “create a culture of toxic masculinity” and suggested he “be censured and expelled from Congress.”
10.19.21-I AM NO FAN OF POWELL BECAUSE OF IRAQ, BUT THIS IS DISGUSTING!-Trump was one day late in sharing a tribute to former secretary of state Colin Powell, who died Monday at age 84. But when he did decide to share his thoughts, he didn't have anything kind to say at all, instead choosing to attack Powell in an emailed statement. "Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the fake news media," Trump wrote Tuesday. The ex-commander in chief then went on to call Powell a "classic RINO, if even that" who was always the first to attack other Republicans. "He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!" Trump concluded. Critics immediately rebuked Trump and his classless missive. "No decent human being will defend Trump's malevolent, spiteful, narcissistic statement on Gen. Powell," wrote political scientist Larry Sabato.
AND
Personalities on Fox News were slammed for using the death of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell from complications of COVID-19 to question the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines. Hosts Tucker Carlson, Will Cain and John Roberts each faced backlash for their commentary. Powell, 84, was fully vaccinated, but had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that attacks the immune system, making him more susceptible to the effects of the virus.
10.18.21-LET'S HOPE DISASTER STRIKES!-Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Sunday that Trump’s ongoing comments about the 2020 election are “not constructive” and could spell disaster for the GOP in the 2022 midterms. “Relitigating 2020 is a recipe for disaster in 2022,” Hutchinson said. “Let’s talk about the future. The election is past. It’s been certified. The states made decisions on the integrity of each of their elections and made improvements where need be.” He added: “It’s about the future. It’s not about the last election. And those kinds of comments are not constructive.”
10.17.21-FOX NEWS AGAIN!-CLICK-Native Americans Demand Fox News Apology, Firings Over Outrageously Racist Comments
10.16.21-FOX FOOLS “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” on Thursday debuted a new World War II-themed nickname for the Fox News personalities railing against President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The conservative network’s hosts and guests were branded a “Band of Bullshitters” in the bit. “The Daily Show’s” spoof trailer shows the conservative network’s guests and hosts — including prime-time anchors Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson — likening the battle against the mandate to “our generation’s World War II” and praising holdouts as heroic and brave. (Vaccine holdouts, actually, are allowing the pandemic to persist.)
The spoof is cut with this text: “In the 1940s, America stormed the beaches to unseat a genocidal dictator. Now their descendants are waging a new, equally heroic war ... against a life-saving vaccine. This winter, meet a new Band of Brothers fighting totalitarianism from the studios of Fox News. Band of Bullshitters, Freedom is Contagious.” Watch the video here.
10.15.21-ANOTHER GOP HYPOCRITE-Trump’s former White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, was hammered for hypocrisy after attacking successor Jen Psaki on Twitter. McEnany on Thursday suggested Psaki, President Joe Biden’s press secretary, violated the Hatch Act, which bans government employees from political campaigning, when she said: “We’re going to do everything we can to help” Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe “and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.” Psaki has faced other Hatch Act-related criticism as well. McEnany, however, was reminded of her own outrageous conflicts of interest, such as serving as White House press secretary at the same time she was a Trump 2020 campaign adviser. People on Twitter also dredged up other ways the Trump administration used public resources for politics, like hosting 2020 Republican National Convention events on the White House lawn. “Seriously? Fuck off,” responded Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump who has become one of her uncle’s loudest critics.
10.14.21-KRAZY KEVIN KATASTROPHE KOMING?(sorry)- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) did not hold back in how he feels about the possibility of a House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tenure as House speaker. During a Tuesday appearance on CNN's New Day, Schiff said McCarthy is "absolutely" an "insurrectionist in a suit and tie," and warned of "disaster" should he takeover for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2022. "He will do anything that [former President Donald Trump] tells him" if that happens, asserted Schiff to co-host John Berman. "We cannot have someone with absolutely no reverance for the truth, no willingness to uphold this oath in that position, in line to the presidency." He added, "Donald Trump doesn't need to be appointed speaker if Kevin McCarthy is because, essentially, Donald Trump will control whatever he does."
10.13.21-WELL SAID-Conservative columnist Max Boot wished Fox News anything but a happy 25th birthday in his latest column for The Washington Post. Boot argued that America’s COVID-19 death toll — which currently stands at 716,000 — “is higher than it would have been if Fox did not exist” because of the misinformation peddled by its personalities. Hosts and guests on the network initially dismissed the threat of the coronavirus as a hoax, Boot noted. They later attacked social distancing, mask mandates and vaccines. Prime time personality Tucker Carlson has in recent weeks railed against President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates, which are less stringent than those imposed by his own employer. “Fox is poisoning the minds of millions of Americans,” Boot charged. “Facebook may be catching up, but I can’t think of any company that has done more damage to American democracy over the past quarter-century than Fox “News,’” he concluded. “That’s nothing to celebrate.”
10.12.21-ANOTHER TRUMP SELF-OWN-Trump delivered a curious gripe, given his own position on the events of Jan. 6, writing: What happened to the Capitol would have never happened if the people in charge did their job and looked at the intelligence. They abandoned the officers on the ground, just like Biden abandoned Americans in Afghanistan. Instead of holding bad leaders accountable, the Democrats are going after innocent staffers and attacking the Constitution.
Rep. Adam Schiff was quick to fire back on Twitter, complete with an accurate title for Trump that those around the former president never use: Thanks for the shout-out, Mr. Former President. As for your statement that the attack on the Capitol would never have happened if “the people in charge had done their job. You do realize that you were in charge on January 6th? Right? Just checking."
10.10.21-BE PREPARED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY-MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan said on Sunday night that Democrats could face a nightmare scenario in 2024 if Republicans control the House Trump runs again for president. “We are in the midst of a rolling coup,” Hasan said. “Almost every day, Republicans pass more voter suppression laws. They purge more and more election officials and they entrench the Big Lie that the election was stolen.” Hasan also played a supercut video of Republican leaders repeating those talking points and vowing more changes ahead of the next presidential election. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House’s second-ranking Republican, even falsely claimed that some states didn’t follow the Constitution during last year’s election. “It’s the words of GOP Congressman Steve Scalise there that are the most chilling to me,” Hasan said. “He’s carefully foreshadowing what the GOP position is likely to be come 2024.” Hasan said the Republican goal was to ensure that GOP-led state legislatures will have the power to ignore their states’ election results and certify their own electors instead. “Mark my words: If Donald Trump is the 2024 Republican presidential nominee and Republicans control the House of Representatives, they will not certify a Democratic victory in 2024,” Hasan said.
10.09.21-THE SCUM SPEAKS-Trump embraced familiar fearmongering rhetoric about migrants on Fox News on Thursday, warning against accepting Haitian asylum-seekers because “many of those people will probably have AIDS.”
10.08.21-IF TRUMP SPEAKS IT WILL BE A LIE-Documents released by the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Friday show Trump’s hotel in the Old Post Office Building in downtown Washington, D.C., was losing tens of millions of dollars a year while he was in office, despite his public claims to the contrary. In federally mandated public financial disclosures from 2016 through 2020, Trump reported that the Trump Hotel generated more than $150 million in revenue. In reality, the property accumulated losses in excess of $70 million, according to the committee. The losses forcedTrump to pull at least $24 million out of a holding company to boost the struggling property, and, in 2018, obtain favorable terms in a deal with Deutsche Bank that allowed him to delay making payments on a $170 million loan he’d personally guaranteed. At the same time, according to an analysis by the committee, foreign governments were spending millions of dollars to rent rooms at the hotel, totaling 7,400 nights from 2017 through 2020 at the average daily rate, bringing in roughly $4 million. While Trump claimed to have donated the foreign payments to the Treasury, the committee said Friday that the donations represented only a small portion of the actual figures.
10.07.21-AMEN-Washington Post columnist Max Boot lamented the GOP’s transformation into the “stupid-and-proud-of-it party” in his column published on Monday. “In the 1980s, when I became a Republican, the GOP took pride in describing itself as the ‘party of ideas,’” Boot wrote. “But under Trump’s leadership, Republicans have reclaimed their old reputation, dating back to the 1950s, as the ‘stupid party.’” “What’s even more telling: This is not a source of shame or embarrassment for the party’s populists.” Boot, who left the GOP following Trump's takeover of the party, named and shamed a number of Republican lawmakers (and their inane and sometimes dangerous comments) as evidence — from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) Jewish space laser conspiracy theory to Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) ridiculous “Imeach Biden” gaffe. The dumbing down of the GOP shows no sign of stopping, he argued.
10.06.21-DUMP Trump-A top GOP donor said Monday he wouldn’t back Trump if he ran for president again in 2024. “I think it’s time for America to move on,” hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin said during an interview with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker at the Economic Club of Chicago. Griffin spent more than $60 million to boost conservatives in the 2020 elections, placing him among the top five political donors in the election cycle, though he has never directly supported Trump’s campaigns, a point he noted during Monday’s discussion. “The four years under President Trump were so pointlessly divisive it was not constructive for our country,” he said.
10.05.21-THIS MAN TERRIFIES ME-If a violent riot intended to keep a president in power weren’t enough, there have been plenty of other instances since Jan. 6 offering evidence of Republicans’ historic anti-democratic assault on the country. On Sunday, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., added to the list of examples when he tweeted a video calling on “American Christians” to “stand against tyranny” and join a battle for “God’s inherent truths that predate any version of government.” The video featured remarks he made last month at the North Carolina Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Salt & Light Conference. Cawthorn is a Trump loyalist who has repeatedly targeted Democrats with violent language. He spoke at the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally shortly before some attendees attacked the U.S. Capitol. At that event, he falsely claimed that Democrats were engaged in “fraud” to win the 2020 election. In August, he said there would be “bloodshed” over any future elections that Republicans claim were rigged. Cawthorn’s dangerous rhetoric signals the urgency of a party that is misaligned with the will of most Americans — and willing to court autocrats such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Last month, the Hungarian state news agency reported that the American Conservative Union’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference would be held in Budapest next year. The Republican Party, having lost the popular vote over the last four presidential elections, has embraced outright authoritarianism to achieve the conservative society of its dreams. And we should take seriously the risk that it and its followers can pose.
10.04.21-THIS WOULD BE END TIMES-Stephanie Grisham, one of Trump's most senior and longest-serving advisers, says she is "terrified" that her former boss may run for office again in 2024. Grisham served as both Trump's press secretary and First Lady Melania Trump's Chief of Staff. "I don't think he is fit for the job," Grisham told "Nightline" co-anchor Juju Chang in a wide-ranging exclusive interview on the eve of the publication of her new book, I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House. "I think that he is erratic. I think that he can be delusional. I think that he is a narcissist and cares about himself first and foremost," Grisham said. She describes a White House in perpetual chaos, where "casual dishonesty" flowed through the air "as if it were in the air conditioning system." "I think [Trump] would foment more violence," she said, adding "I think he will line his pockets. I think his family will line their pockets. I believe that he wanted to help the country in the beginning; ... he wants to help himself now." (ABC News)
09.30.21-PLAYING THE FOOL, BUT IT'S NO ACT-In a defamation case, attorneys sat down with Rudi Giuliani last month and asked about the origins of the Republican conspiracy theories, specifically related to voting machines — a core element of the GOP's anti-election push. As part of the deposition process, Giuliani, among others, was required to answer questions under oath, which in turn offers the public a window into how the nonsense became an animating principle for the former president and his allies. The core question for the former New York City mayor was simple: Where did all this weird stuff come from? Giuliani was asked, for example, about media reports in which he said he'd relied on some media accounts and social media posts in order to go after a Dominion Voting Systems executive. Giuliani responded that he couldn't remember if it was Facebook or some other platform. "Those social media posts get all one to me," he said. Giuliani added that he couldn't think of anything else "that I laid eyes on." This was itself amazing: Before going public with anti-election conspiracy theories, Giuliani's due diligence involved reading some stuff via social media — though he's not sure which platform.
09.29.21-TRUMPS CONTINUE TO LIE-Largest U.S. police group appears to counter Sen. Tim Scott's argument that Democrats sought to defund police in reform negotiations. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has suggested that his police reform talks with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) fell apart primarily because Democrats sought to defund the police by making departments ineligible for funding if they failed to meet certain criteria. But a pair of prominent police organizations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police, appeared to push back against Scott's argument in a statement on Tuesday, though the senator wasn't mentioned by name. "Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose 'defunding the police,'" the statement reads. "In fact, the legislation specifically provided additional funding to assist law enforcement agencies in training, agency accreditation, and data collection initiatives." Those provision would have helped strengthen law enforcement improve community police engagement "without compromising management and officers' rights, authorities, and legal protections," the statement continues.
09.28.21-THE BIGGEST LOSER-Trump has lost in an effort to enforce a nondisclosure agreement against former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman, The New York Times reports. Manigault Newman is also the author of Unhinged, an unfavorable tell-all about her time in the Trump administration. "Donald has used this type of vexatious litigation to intimidate, harass and bully for years," said Manigault Newman in a statement. "Finally the bully has met his match!" The decision, handed down on Monday, calls for the former aide to collect legal fees from the Trump campaign, which filed the case soon after Unhinged was published. The campaign claimed Manigault Newman had violated a nondisclosure agreement signed during the 2016 campaign "stipulating that she would not reveal private or confidential information about [trump's] family, business or personal life," per the Times. However, the arbitrator in the case claimed "the definition of the type of comment protected by the nondisclosure agreement was so vague that it had been rendered meaningless," writes the Times. He went on to argue that the information Manigault Newman had shared was barely privileged, and said the agreement "effectively imposes on Respondent an obligation to never say anything remotely critical of Mr. trump, his family or his or his family members' businesses for the rest of her life." Trump cannot appeal the decision "other than on the basis of fraud" against the case arbitrator, leaving him with little additional recourse.
09.27.21-JUST SAY HIS NAME, COWARD-Former head of the Department of Education and one-time Trump ally Betsy DeVos threw some major shade at the former president at a Republican event in Michigan on Saturday. DeVos didn’t mention Trump by name, but her target was clear when she warned Republicans against becoming hung up on “one person.” “Ours is not a movement dependent on any one person,” DeVos said in a speech at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, The Detroit Free Press reported.
09.26.21-WORSE THAN SATAN-Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) blasted Trump in a searing CNN opinion piece Friday, comparing the former president to the devil, “looking for a party’s soul to steal.” Duncan referred to the late Southern rocker Charlie Daniels’ song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” ahead of trump’s rally in the state this weekend. “This weekend, former President Trump is hosting a rally in my neck of the woods,” Duncan wrote. Then, evoking Satan, he added: “If the legendary Southern rocker Charlie Daniels were still with us today, his hit song could be re-written as, ‘A president went down to Georgia; he was looking for a party’s soul to steal.’” Daniels’ song tells the story of a devil desperate for souls to collect in Georgia. But Satan loses a fiddle-playing contest in a deal with a phenomenal musician and doesn’t win his soul. As for trump, he “continues to be painfully comfortable peddling his baseless conspiracy theories of widespread election fraud. Last week, he fired off a disjointed and juvenile letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to ‘decertify’ the results of the election,” Duncan wrote.
09.25.21-THIS WON'T STOP THIS LYING BEAST-trump’s desperate efforts to cast doubt on the result of the 2020 election are having detrimental effects on his party, according even to some former allies. Trump suffered an embarrassment on Friday when the so-called audit of votes in Arizona’s Maricopa County, backed by supporters of the former president, in effect affirmed that the results were legitimate. In fact, the audit — carried out by the Cyber Ninjas group — indicated that President Biden’s margin of victory in the state’s most populous county was slightly wider than first recorded.
09.23.21-WHY EVEN ASK?-Conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot flipped a quote from Benjamin Franklin to call out Republican reluctance to tackle the three biggest crises facing the United States. Boot recalled Franklin’s fire-prevention advice to Philadelphians that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Republicans today “seem to think an ounce of cure is worth a pound of prevention,” he wrote, slamming the GOP for allowing the “calamities” of COVID-19, global warming and gun violence “to rage out of control — and then hoping for the best.” “Why won’t the GOP do more to avert so many foreseeable tragedies?” asked Boot, a longtime anti-Donald Trump Republican who left the party following the former president’s rise to power. “Because it is afraid to take on anti-vaxxers and COVID deniers, oil and gas interests, and the gun lobby,” he concluded. “Due to a combination of extremism and expedience, Republicans are allowing problems to fester at great cost rather than dealing with them at the source.”
09.22.21-TRUMP'S LIE-MEMO SHOWS Trump CAMPAIGN KNEW HE WAS LYING Although trump’s camp has claimed the 2020 presidential election was riddled with fraud, a newly uncovered memo shows that his campaign knew soon after Election Day that many of his claims were baseless. It appears the Trump campaign allowed lawyers, including Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, to continue spreading fake news and filing lawsuits despite no evidence to support conspiracy theories about voting machines.
09.21.21-HITLER VS. SATAN-If you've been wondering about Sen. Mitch McConnell's standing in the eyes of former President trump—well, it doesn't appear to be too high. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump has been gunning for the Senate minority leader from Kentucky, working behind the scenes to find candidates to boot McConnell from the leadership role he's held for almost 15 years. Sources tell the paper that Trump has been having discussions with senators and other allies to see if there are any takers in that bid. The development is a "funny thing," notes the Week, considering "trump's presidency would have been nearly bereft of accomplishment without the senator's efforts," including in placing three conservative justices on the Supreme Court and passing a $1.9 trillion tax cut.
09.20.21-LET'S HOPE DESANTIS IS NEXT-Support for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has taken a dive in the state, according to a new poll released Sunday.A 54% majority of Texans believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, while just 45% think the state is on the right track, according to a survey conducted by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler. Abbott’s approval rating before the COVID-19 crisis began to grip the nation in March 2020 stood at 59%, the newspaper noted.
09.19.21-THANK YOU MITT-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) bashed Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s meeting with Hungary’s power-grabbing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in a speech Friday marking the 234th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution at Brigham Young University. The senator didn’t called out Carlson by name in his remarks, but instead referred to him as a “prominent TV pundit” who visited Hungary to “extol” the prime minister “as a model for us to emulate.” Last month, the Fox News host broadcast his show from Budapest, where he spoke at a right-wing conference. During an interview with Orbán, Carlson praised his leadership. “Orbán censors the media in his country, ignores the will of the people in elections, amasses wealth for himself and his cronies,” Romney said. “Hungary is ranked as one of the least free, least democratic countries in the developed world. Hungary? A model for America?” Romney brought up Carlson’s meeting with Orbán as he warned his audience that democracy was at risk in the United States. He also slammed the Capitol insurrection. “Our resolve to follow the Constitution’s path, avoiding the perils of authoritarianism ... that’s wavering,” he said. “No more stunning evidence of that was the attempt to prevent the lawful and constitutional transfer of power on Jan. 6.”
09.18.21-THEY ARE STILL RIPPING US OFF-In June, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin visited Israel to scout investments for his new company, then flew to Qatar for a conference. At the time, Mnuchin had been out of office for five months. But, because of an order given by President Donald Trump, he was still entitled to protection by Secret Service agents. As agents followed Mnuchin across the Middle East, the U.S. government paid up to $3,000 each for their plane tickets, and $11,000 for rooms at Qatar’s luxe St. Regis Doha, according to government spending records. In all, the records show U.S. taxpayers spent more than $52,000 to guard a multimillionaire on a business trip. These payments were among $1.7 million in additional government spending triggered by Trump’s highly unusual order — which awarded six extra months of Secret Service protection for his four adult children and three top administration officials — according to a Washington Post analysis of new spending documents.
09.17.21-RIGHT WING WING-NUT-A Newsmax host flipped out when a guest committed a cardinal sin on the right-wing network: He criticized Trump. Iraq War veteran Joe Saboe, who has been working to rescue Americans in Afghanistan, wasn’t especially blunt in his appraisal but simply disagreed with host Grant Stinchfield’s assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. “This didn’t happen under President Trump,” Stinchfield declared. “He wanted out of Afghanistan real bad... but he didn’t pull out because he knew this would happen.” In reality, Trump had planned a much earlier withdrawal from the country. Saboe noted that Trump wasn’t particularly aggressive about getting Americans out of the country. “With due respect, Grant... we followed this closely for multiple administrations and we know that Trump’s administration’s efforts here were fairly weak, that they were trying to limit the number of people that would get out, and so there were coordination problems.” Stinchfield couldn’t take it. “Cut him off, please,” he said, then raised his voice. “Cut him off now! Cut him off now! You’re not going to blame this on President Trump on my show!”
09.16.21-COURAGE-New Hampshire state Rep. William Marsh said he quit the Republican Party to protest the state GOP’s COVID-19 vaccine policies, slamming them as “a bridge too far.” “I can’t sit by in silence,” Marsh, an ophthalmologist, told CNN’s Erin Burnett. The New Hampshire state GOP’s push to ban businesses from mandating vaccinations for staff and customers, and schools from mandating masks, prompted Marsh’s jump to the Democratic Party, he said. “We all know what’s happened in states that have followed that path,” warned Marsh of the GOP’s agenda. “People are getting sick. People are dying, including an increasingly high percentage of children.”
09.15.21-PENCE EXPOSED-Ever since Mike Pence announced on Jan. 6 that he lacked power to help Trump overturn the 2020 election in Congress, it’s been widely suggested that the vice president was one of the few heroes in this ugly tale. The key details concern Trump’s relentless pressure on Pence to help subvert the electoral college count on Jan. 6, pursuant to the vice president’s role as president of the Senate. The day before, in the Oval Office, Trump angrily told Pence that various people believed he did have the power to somehow derail the count." I’ve done everything I could and then some." That’s at odds with the portrayal of Pence as a heroic defender of the Constitution and the rule of law who bravely rebuffed Trump’s corrupt pressure on him to help destroy them both. Obviously Pence might have been exaggerating his efforts to placate Trump. But notably, the book also reports that Pence privately said the same to former vice president Dan Quayle, who basically had to persuade him he had no power to help Trump: Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do. “Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,” Quayle told him. So we need to know how far Pence actually did try to go. Which raises a bunch of other questions. For instance, did Trump try to pressure the Justice Department to develop a fake legal rationale for Pence to somehow derail the electoral count? Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the 9/11 commission, has suggested another line of inquiry: What was Pence’s own understanding of the plot Trump was trying to set in motion?
09.14.21-NO KIDDING!-Email exchanges obtained by the House's select subcommittee on the COVID-19 pandemic "add to the growing body of evidence that the Trump administration knew the significant risk posed by the coronavirus but failed to execute an effective strategy to reduce the loss of American lives," Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) wrote in a letter to former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday, per The Washington Post. In one email dated Feb. 29, 2020, Steven Hatfill, a virologist advising the administration, told Navarro that "we do not have a clue how many people are infected" in the United States, and warned that the first wave of cases "will be accompanied by a massive loss of credibility" for the White House. He urged "frank honesty" and "decisive direct actions" from the federal government just hours after former President Donald Trump had publicly undersold the threat of the virus and praised his team's response. Navarro went on to tell Trump the next day that their response was "not fast enough" and a "very serious public health emergency" was coming, but public rhetoric didn't change much in the aftermath.
09.13.21-DOUBLESPEAK-Chris Wallace tore into Gov. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) on Sunday for coming out against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, even though his state has mandates in place for several other vaccines. “You say it’s a personal choice,” Wallace said on “Fox News Sunday.” “In fact, to attend school in your state of Nebraska, children must be vaccinated against a number of diseases. They must be vaccinated against diptheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, hepatitis B and chickenpox.” “Why are those mandates that parents in your state must comply with — and do comply with routinely — why is it that they’re not so objectionable and such a violation of personal freedom, but [President Joe] Biden’s vaccine mandates are?” he asked. Ricketts responded that people “don’t know who to trust right now” and that “we have trust in those other vaccines” due to their “long history.” Wallace pointed out that the polio vaccine was also developed quickly — and that people “viewed it as a blessing” when it first became available — and that the Food and Drug Administration has given full approval to a COVID-19 vaccine.
09.12.21-IT'S A LITTLE LATE CHRIS!-No leading Republican did more to legitimize Trump, as he was battling to secure the party’s nomination in 2016, than Chris Christie. And yet this week, the former New Jersey governor took dead aim at both Trump and his more ardent followers. Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Christie compared Trump’s conspiracy-minded supporters to the John Birch Society in the 1960s, likened the former president himself to an authoritarian and flatly rejected the myth of a stolen election.
09.11.21-JUST GET THE SHOT!-GOP Senate Candidate Flips Out At Vaccine Mandates In ‘Deeply Offensive’ Video. Ohio Republican Josh Mandel’s cornfield rant about tyranny and the Gestapo was condemned as “beyond the pale” by Jewish advocacy groups. Josh Mandel, a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, railed against President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandates in a video that’s been slammed as “beyond the pale” by Jewish advocacy group the Anti-Defamation League. Mandel said his blood was “boiling in rage” and Biden was “trampling on our freedom” with the additional measures the president announced this week in a bid to end the pandemic. Mandel urged Americans not to comply “with the tyranny” in the clip, which was filmed next to a cornfield with a gigantic “TRUMP” sign. “And when the Gestapo turn up at your door, you know what to do,” he added, a line that critics suggested was inciting violence.
09.09.21-TYPICAL TRUMPER HYPOCRISY-Kellyanne Conway’s reason for refusing to resign from her U.S. Air Force Academy board role drew howls of derision on Twitter. Conway, like some of the others, rejected the request. In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden that Conway shared on Twitter, she claimed the request to resign or be dismissed was “a break from presidential norms,” “petty” and “political.” Critics called out Conway’s hypocrisy, reminding her that pettiness and breaks from the norm were ever-present features of the Trump presidency.
09.08.21-DISGUSTING-Trump and his son, mini-Trump, will spend the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks cashing in on a boxing match in Florida. While Trump is marking the 20th anniversary of the attacks by charging fans to listen to him talk about boxing, President Joe Biden will visit all three crash sites: New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
09.07.21-SICK!-HE COMPARES HUNGRY PEOPLE TO DOGS-On Fox News last month, Laura Ingraham asked Bar Rescue host Jon Taffer: "What if we just cut off the unemployment? … Hunger is a pretty powerful thing." He responded: "They only feed a military dog at night, because a hungry dog is an obedient dog. Well, if we are not causing people to be hungry to work..." Taffer was okay with cutting off the cash flow to his fellow citizens, even though he personally had no problem accepting two PPP loans totaling $60,858 from the Small Business Association, according to FederalPay.org.
09.06.21-REPUBLICANS WANT TO ERASE HISTORY-Members of the House Armed Services Committee forcefully debated the role of teaching critical race theory at military educational institutions for more than an hour late Wednesday night, with Democrats sharply pushing back against Republican efforts to include a ban on the concept as part of an annual defense spending bill. GOP lawmakers -- including Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks of Indiana and Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee -- backed amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, a sweeping defense bill that authorizes spending levels and outlines priorities for the US military. Critical race theory recognizes that systemic racism is part of American society and challenges the beliefs that allow it to flourish. While the theory was started decades ago as a way to examine how laws and systems promote inequality, it has taken on new urgency since a series of killings last year of African Americans by police officers, which led to a national reckoning on race. Conservatives, including Banks, have criticized the concept as un-American.
09.05.21-BLOOD ON HIS HANDS-A 30-year teaching veteran was one of 15 Miami-Dade County public school staff members who died of COVID-19 in just 10 days as Florida continues to reel amid the continuing, overwhelming toll of an unfettered pandemic. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has dismissed the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations and signed an executive order banning mask mandates at schools, issued no comment on the astounding death rate in the county schools system.
09.04.21-MORE LIES-The top members of the select committee investigating the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill refuted recent claims by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that Trump has been cleared by the Justice Department of any role in the insurrection. "(McCarthy) has suggested, based on an anonymous report, that the Department of Justice has concluded that Trump did not cause, incite, or provoke the violence on January 6th," the statement read. "When this anonymous report was first published, the Select Committee queried the Executive Branch agencies and congressional committees involved in the investigation. We've received answers and briefings from the relevant entities, and it's been made clear to us that reports of such a conclusion are baseless."
09.03.21-THIS DISGUSTING PERSON IS TRYING TO OUT-DIGUST TRUMP-Tucker Carlson on Thursday defended unvaccinated people buying fake vaccination cards as the delta variant continued to fuel the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox News’ prime-time peddler of vaccine skepticism used Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s depiction of ID card fraud as a “serious crime” for his jumping-off point. (Vance announced forgery charges this week in a COVID-19 card conspiracy involving several health care workers.). “Buying a fake vaccination card is not a, quote, ‘serious crime,’” Carlson said. “It’s not even close to a serious crime. Buying a fake vaccination card is an act of desperation by decent, law-abiding Americans who have been forced into a corner by tyrants.” “You know what’s a serious crime?” the host continued. “Forcing Americans to take drugs they don’t need or want. That’s a very serious crime. And let’s hope, in the end, someone is punished for it, severely.”
09.02.21-HISTORYS GREATEST HYPOCRITE COMPLAINS-Trump Accuses Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley Of Hypocrisy. “Well, every time she criticizes me, she uncriticizes [sic] me about 15 minutes later,” the former president told Vanity Fair.
09.01.21-DIRTY THREATS BY A DIRTY PERSON-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is threatening telecommunications and social media companies that comply with a request by the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, declaring that Republicans “will not forget” their actions. McCarthy spoke with Trump on the day of the attack and is a potential witness in the select committee’s probe. The panel on Monday asked 35 companies to retain phone records and other information related to the attack as it ramps up its investigation ahead of the return of Congress next month. Several of the companies indicated this week that they intend to comply with the panel’s requests, while only one so far has publicly said it will not do so.
08.31.21-THIS GUY IS ALREADY A PROVEN LIAR-(see above)-At a local GOP political event in his home state on Sunday, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) warned of “bloodshed” over the 2020 election and called people arrested and charged for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot “political hostages.” The far-right lawmaker made the comments during an event hosted by the Macon County Republican Party in Franklin, North Carolina, that the group streamed to Facebook. The post has since been removed. During his speech, Cawthorn repeated Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was “rigged” and warned that it would result in violence.
08.30.21-HE'S RIGHT ABOUT THE HATE-WRONG ABOUT WHO IS DERANGED-Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) claimed that animosity against Trump is hindering studies of ivermectin — a drug approved to treat some parasitic worms and often administered to livestock — and its supposed potential to treat or prevent COVID-19 in humans. “The hatred for Trump deranged these people so much, that they’re unwilling to objectively study it,” Paul said.
08.28.21-SICK EGOMANIAC-With just weeks to go before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Trump suggested the man behind them, Osama bin Laden, wasn’t that bad and only had “one hit.” Trump made the callous and false comment during an interview about the crisis in Afghanistan. After trashing President Joe Biden’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from the country, Trump bragged about two terror chiefs killed under his own administration: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. He claimed that both men were much bigger targets than bin Laden, who was killed in 2011 under former President Barack Obama’s leadership. “Now, just so you understand, Soleimani is bigger by many, many times than Osama bin Laden,” Trump said. “The founder of ISIS is bigger by many, many times, al-Baghdadi, than Osama bin Laden.” “Osama bin Laden had one hit, and it was a bad one, in New York City, the World Trade Center,” Trump said, ignoring Bin Laden’s other deadly attacks. “But these other two guys were monsters. They were monsters.” “And I kept saying for years, why aren’t they getting them? For years, I said it,” Trump continued. “I got them. The press doesn’t talk about it. They don’t talk about it because they don’t want to talk about it.”
08.26.21-Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is coming under fire for tweeting a meme showing an arm tattooed with a concentration camp identification number as a way to complain about coronavirus vaccine mandates.
A Twitter user said this: Wait until Rep Massive reads the ID requirements to vote that his party wants to enforce.."
08.25.21-I GUESS SHE IS BLIND AND DEAF-Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confounded critics Tuesday when she claimed the nation did not see “crisis after crisis” under Trump, who was impeached twice and oversaw the management of a devastating coronavirus pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
08.24.21-IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE!-Alex Jones Flips On Trump, Decides Maybe ‘He’s A Dumbass.’ The Infowars conspiracy theorist raged at the former president for recommending the COVID-19 vaccines.
08.23.21-YES, IT'S A MESS IN AFGHANISTAN-
Read this for some perspective........... And this
08.22.21-DISGUSTING!-Under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ watch, the state has seen the largest explosion in coronavirus cases of any state in the nation this summer, with horrifying reports of packed hospitals that look far worse than they did even at the beginning of the pandemic. In light of Florida’s fiasco, a new exposé by the Tampa Bay Times about DeSantis’ fixation on appearing on Fox News has some statistics that help explain the crisis — and condemn DeSantis’ handling of it. The report, based on four months of emails that capture the intimate relationship between Fox News and DeSantis, found that his commitment to appearing on the network seems to rival, if not overshadow, his basic duties of governance:
08.19.21-SHE WAS ONCE A REPUBLICAN, NOW A TRUMPER-TOO BAD-Nikki Haley insulted the intelligence of her fellow Americans on Wednesday and once again found herself soaking in her own hypocrisy. On Wednesday, the former ambassador to the United Nations under Trump attacked the Biden administration’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan ― and especially, the administration negotiations with the Taliban, which Haley compared to “dealing with the devil. Granted, negotiating with a terrorist organization has bad optics ― which is why the Trump administration was also criticized when it decided to invite Taliban leaders to meet with the president at Camp David just days before the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Haley either forgot that or decided to ignore it when she attempted to own those danged libs with her tough-talking tweet. Luckily, many Twitter users were happy to remind her that Republicans have done the same thing she’s upset at Democrats for doing. And some brought receipts in the form of an infamous photo of Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posing for a photo with a Taliban leader.
08.18.21-WORKING HIS WAY UP THE 'WORST PEOPLE' LADDER-Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a COVID-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment that was used on Trump after he tested positive for COVID-19.
08.17.21-WORD VOMIT-Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, used his primetime slot to claim Afghanistan's fall is a result of a "grotesque," American-imposed "neoliberal program" in which "men can become pregnant" and Afghan women can serve in government roles. "It turns out that the people of Afghanistan don't actually want gender studies symposium," said Carlson. He seems to be saying that allowing women to serve in the Afghanistan government is the reason why the country is in chaos and he praises the Afghan people who didn't like it: "Why would they?"
08.16.21-MORE DIRTY TRICKS-FIRST WE MASSACRE THEM, NOW THIS-After turning out to vote in record numbers in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Native Americans are now one of the biggest targets of Republican-backed voter suppression efforts in states where their votes mattered the most. Republicans in states with significant Native populations like Arizona, Kansas, Montana and more have enacted new laws that limit voter access in ways that disproportionately impact Native voters. Imposing strict time limits on correcting a mail-in ballot, prohibiting third-party ballot collection, implementing strict voter identification requirements and making it harder to pay for election resources all negatively impact Native Americans in these states, largely due to specific circumstances on reservations where many of them live.
08.15.21-TYPICAL THUG-A chilling statement by Trump attacking the police officer who fatally shot Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt is obviously a “threat,” warned former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. In an interview on CNN Thursday, McCabe blasted Trump’s comments as “incredibly dangerous.” “We know this for a fact. This isn’t something we’re theorizing about,” he added, noting the effect Trump’s “words have on his most diehard and emotional supporters.” Trump said in a statement posted to Twitter by his paid aide Liz Harrington on Wednesday that “we know who he is,” referring to the unidentified officer who killed Babbitt. He added: “The Radical Left haters cannot be allowed to get away with this. There must be justice!” McCabe noted: “Let’s face it, when he says, ‘We know who you are,’ that’s a threat. That’s the same sort of language that a mob boss or a drug kingpin would use to threaten a subordinate. So you have the former president of the United States threatening members of law enforcement. It’s just outrageous.”
08.14.21-MORE TRASH-A conservative group draws damning comparisons between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the late Joseph McCarthy, the GOP senator who fueled anti-communist fears in the 1950s, in its new ad. Joseph McCarthy “deceived America, pushing a lie that our government was being taken over by communist spies,” says the voiceover of the 60-second video — titled “The New McCarthyism” — that was released by the Republican Accountability Project on Friday. “He gaslit America to advance his own political career,” it continues. “Now McCarthyism is back, with a new McCarthy: Kevin McCarthy. Just like Joe, Kevin McCarthy is gaslighting Americans.” The narrator then calls out current top House Republican Kevin McCarthy, a staunch defender of Trump, for protecting “white nationalists, anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists while he whitewashes Jan. 6 all to advance his political power.”
08.13.21-THAT'S NOT ALL HE IS-Mary Trump has delivered a scathing critique of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a new essay, describing the Kentucky Republican as “the most dangerous Republican enabler” of her uncle, Donald Trump. In a lengthy article for The New Republic published Thursday, Trump's niece slammed McConnell as “the greatest traitor to this country” since Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee. But “with the difference that McConnell has been trying to take our country down from within,” she wrote.
08.12.21-LUNATIC LOSER-MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s online “Cyber Symposium” promoting Trump’s election lies continues to go south. Lindell vowed ahead of the 72-hour event that began in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Tuesday to show conclusive proof that China hacked voting machines in the 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden — thus costing Trump victory. But after the second day on Wednesday, there was no such evidence. Instead, a cyber expert hired by Lindell to decrypt and analyze what the pillow peddler called “irrefutable” data reportedly said it was unrecoverable in its current state and could not prove hacking. “So our team said, we’re not going to say that this is legitimate if we don’t have confidence in the information,” Josh Merritt told The Washington Times, adding that Lindell has now canceled his $5 million reward for anyone who can disprove his wild claims. Lindell also found out Wednesday that his attempt at dismissing Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against him had been shot down by a federal judge. Oh, and the symposium wasn’t being covered by Fox News— which Lindell was less than happy about.
08.09.21-FOOL SPEAKS-Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had an apparent lapse in self-awareness on Monday night, during a Fox News appearance in which he accused congressional Democrats of having a "herd mentality" and only accepting orders from one person. "It's a weird thing. There is a herd mentality among congressional Democrats that they obey [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)], and their only answer is 'sir, yes sir,'" said Cruz while ignoring the Trump-sized elephant in the room.
08.08.21-THIS STUFF DOES NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN-Former Newsmax host and right-wing Florida radio commentator Dick Farrel — who mocked vaccines, the “scamdemic” and “lying freak” Dr. Anthony Fauci — has died of COVID-19.
08.07.21-WHEN WILL WE DUMP THIS GUY? The U.S. Postal Service has secured a $120 million, five-year deal with XPO logistics, a major logistics contractor with financial and personal ties to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, The Washington Post reports. The contract, which was awarded in April, will have XPO oversee operations at two "crucial" sorting and distribution facilities in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
08.06.21-THE DISGUSTING PIG SPEAKS-Conspiracy theory-endorsing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) faced backlash after she told an audience in Alabama that door-to-door outreach vaccination workers “might not like the welcome they get” because “in the South, we all love our Second Amendment rights,” reported Al.com. Guests at an Alabama Federation of Republican Women event in Dothan cheered when the radical right-wing lawmaker praised their state for having one of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates, according to a video secretly recorded at the private July 23 event that radio host David Pakman shared on Twitter Tuesday.
08.05.21-ANOTHER DOUCHEBAG-Louisiana has the country’s highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita and one of the lowest vaccination rates right now. And the situation for hospitals and health care workers has never been worse. State Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) is doing his part to keep it that way. On Monday, as the state’s coronavirus death toll topped 11,000, Landry sent an email to state Department of Justice employees informing them how to avoid complying with school mask mandates for children. He also advised how to circumvent K-12 vaccine requirements, though the state doesn’t have any. “Louisiana law offers broad and robust protections for students’ and parents’ religious and philosophical objections to certain state public health policies,” Landry wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Louisiana Illuminator. “I support your religious liberties and right to conscientiously object.”
08.04.21-FLORIDA SCUM-Officials like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are getting in the way of people trying to do the right thing, As COVID conditions worsen in the Sunshine State, the Republican has prevented the private sector from requiring proof of vaccinations, while also blocking mask requirements. Indeed, the governor recently delivered out-of-state remarks to a conservative group, insisting his state say "no to restrictions and no [to] mandates." DeSantis has taken these steps while simultaneously trying to undermine public confidence in public-health authorities. Yesterday, he decided the smart move would be to blame news organizations. The Orlando Sentinel reported: Despite a record number of COVID-19 patients at hospitals across the state and dire warnings from the Florida Hospital Association, Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed capacity concerns as news media "hysteria" and insisted "our hospitals are open for business." His comments came Tuesday as people hospitalized with the coronavirus in Florida rose to an all-time high of 11,515, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He added, "Obviously the media does hysteria, you try to fear monger."
08.02.21-UNHINGED IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT-GOP Rep. Paul Gosar’s Siblings Tell Him To Resign: ‘Have You No Sense Of Decency?’ The far-right lawmaker’s brothers and sister said in a blistering op-ed that he betrayed his family and his country. They have called for action from the GOP against their brother, citing his links to white nationalists, his COVID-19 denial and role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, among other wrongdoings. “Although his colleagues in Congress and others in the media seem to only recently be paying attention, we have been aware of his unhinged behavior for years,” wrote Jennifer, Dave and Tim Gosar in an op-ed published by NBC News on Sunday. “Have you no sense of decency, Paul?” they continued, pointing to his false claims about coronavirus while it was ravaging his state, his repeated participation in and involvement with white nationalist events, support for the racist “birther” conspiracy theory and dedicated efforts to spread former president Trump’s big lie.
08.01.21-WHAT COUNTRY DO WE LIVE IN?-Nonprofit groups run by a crew of radical right-wing conspiracy theorists are paying millions of dollars to fund much of the sham Arizona vote audit launched by Republican state senators, according to records released following a lawsuit demanding transparency in the process. Groups headed by former Trump’s ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn (nearly $1 million), conspiracy lawyer Sidney Powell ($550,000) and two correspondents from One American News Network ($605,000) — who gushed about the audit operation while paying for it — are among the top funders of the controversial recount by the inexperienced Cyber Ninjas company, according to the records. The unveiling of the people bankrolling the audit appears to further undermine any remaining credibility in the operation.
07.30.21-CRIMINAL CHARGES COMING SOON?-The Treasury Department must turn over copies of Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel ruled on Friday.
07.29.21-MORON MCCARTHY-House Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), have frequently suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her fellow Democrats are dodging the question of why the Capitol Police force was unprepared for the Jan. 6 riot as they try to get to the bottom of the events of that day. Banks, whom McCarthy recommended to serve on the Jan. 6 select committee before Pelosi rejected him, said Tuesday that if he were at the committee's hearing, he'd ask why the Capitol was "unprepared and vulnerable to attack." He then questioned why Pelosi "would want to block me from asking that question," insinuating that she's responsible for the failures. But HuffPost's Arthur Delaney thinks Banks' allegations are all for show, noting Wednesday that the prepared question was the first thing "everyone asked" during the hearings. Plus, as Delaney points out, a bipartisan Senate committee held multiple public hearings in an attempt to find the answer. For any Republican members of the House who actually care about the answer to the question of why the Capitol was so vulnerable, reading this report might be a good start. Click for report.
07.28.21-IDIOT-SPEAK-Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) stood by his comments comparing the riot that overtook the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to what happens during a “normal tourist visit.” Clyde made his initial comments at a committee hearing in May. He said that he helped his colleagues barricade a door to prevent a mob from breaking in — but, he added, it wasn’t that bad, because “the House floor was never breached.” While there were “some rioters,” he said it was a “bold-faced lie” to call it an insurrection.
07.25.21-TURNS OUT SHE LOVES THE TRAITORS-Arizona Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers defied belief with her rallying cry on Twitter Friday for people to “stand up for our culture!” In what appeared to be a response to the Cleveland baseball team’s decision to move away from racist stereotypes by changing its name from the Indians to the Guardians, the Trump apologist tweeted: I like Indians and I like Redskins. I like Aunt Jemima and I like Uncle Ben. I like Robert E Lee and I like Stonewall Jackson. I don’t like traitors who hate America. Stand up for our culture!
07.24.21-TRUE!-Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan lashed out Friday at Republicans who are “whitewashing” the U.S. Capitol insurrection. “We have to get to the bottom of exactly what happened there, and there’s no whitewashing,” Hogan told Major Garrett of CBS News on “The Takeout Podcast” on Friday. “There’s no way to just overlook this and say it didn’t happen,” Hogan said. “The nonsense about ‘these were just peaceful tourists’ is completely absurd. Talk about major disinformation and lies. That’s exactly what that is.”
07.23.21-FISCAL FOOLS-Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene have teamed up and formed a joint fundraising committee. Unfortunately for them, they’re losing money. Since Gaetz and Greene kicked off their joint fundraising committee with a May 7 event at The Villages in central Florida, their campaigns and joint fundraising committee have posted a combined loss of $342,000. And according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, that joint fundraising effort, “Put America First,” reported only $59,345.54 in contributions. That sort of meager haul would be fine for a dinner or one-time event, but Gaetz and Greene have repeatedly held high-profile events and spent a whopping $287,036.19 to hold them—meaning they’re in the hole by more than $225,000.
07.22.21-TYPICAL CRAP-Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) just broke the first rule of whataboutism — don't ask questions you don't know the answers to. During a GOP doctors press conference on Thursday, Jackson erroneously accused the media of unfairly neglecting to ask Democratic lawmakers about their vaccination status the way they do Republicans. But what Jackson seems to have forgotten, noted writer James Surowiecki, is that liberal lawmakers across both chambers of Congress have a 100 percent vaccination rate, per CNN. Jackson went on to say "I highly doubt" all six of the Texas Democrats who tested positive for COVID-19 (and appear to have started a small Capitol outbreak) are vaccinated. Unfortunately for him, all reportedly are. Better luck next time, Jackson.
07.20.21-IS THIS A DREAM?-Fox News anchor Bret Baier threw facts at Trump on Monday after the former president went on a tirade against him for reporting that President Joe Biden fairly won Arizona in the 2020 election. “Trump put out a statement this weekend insisting voter fraud and irregularities cost him Arizona’s Electoral College votes,” Baier said. “He actually pointed to the reporting on this show.” Baier then walked through and debunked each of Trump’s claims from the statement.
AND:
Former Fox News reporter Carl Cameron on Monday called out Tucker Carlson’s doubtful diatribes against COVID-19 vaccines, saying his ex-colleague at the conservative network was “gaslighting” viewers for ratings and revenue. “It’s about ratings and ratings ultimately become revenue, and that’s the name of the game,” Cameron told CNN’s “New Day” about personalities on Fox and other hyperpartisan media outlets that have questioned the shots. Vaccine resistance has now become a GOP rallying cry, even though the shots have been shown safe and effective.
07.19.21-FOX SPEAKS?-Doocy: 99% of people who are dying are unvaccinated. Kilmeade: That's their choice! Doocy: They don't want to die. The admin and gov't says mask mandates are to protect the unvaccinated. Kilmeade: That's not their job, it's not their job to protect anybody!
07.18.21-NOW LETS DUMP GAETZ-Matt Gaetz’s ‘America First’ Rally Dumped By Third California Venue Hours Before Event.
07.17.21-GOP blows smoke blaming Biden for higher gas prices.Here we go again: Gasoline prices have spiked, and politicians are spinning attack lines and pointing fingers of blame. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tweeted in June: “Average gas price: June 2020: $2.21 June 2021: $3.07 President Biden’s economy!” “As millions of Americans travel this holiday weekend, they are feeling the cost of Biden’s policies at the pump,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel tweeted this month. “Gas prices are at their highest level in 7 years.”
The Washington Post Fact Checker has been looking into similar attack lines for years — and they never quite add up. So far in 2021, gasoline prices have risen 88 cents, or a 40 percent increase, to $3.13 a gallon on July 6.
But what has Biden got to do with it? The biggest factor in the price of gasoline is crude oil. Well over 50 percent of the price at the pump is directly tied to the cost of crude oil. About 18 percent of the cost relates to state and federal taxes — the latter of which have not increased under Biden. About 15 percent stems from distribution and marketing, while 13 percent comes from refining costs and profits. (These figures are from AAA.) The world is emerging from a pandemic that sent oil prices tumbling. Now the price of crude oil is going up. Simple as that. The Republicans who made these claims earned Four Pinocchios. (LIARS)
07.16.21-WARNING-A former Homeland Security official under Trump says his own party is a national security threat. Miles Taylor, who served as the agency’s deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, told MSNBC’s Jason Johnson that he’s not a political operative, just someone who works in national security. “And the number one national security threat I’ve ever seen in my life to this country’s democracy is the party that I’m in, the Republican Party,” Taylor said on Thursday, adding: “If my party retakes the House of Representatives in the next cycle, it’s going to become a haunted house. And the ghoul and the specter haunting that house is going to be Donald Trump.” Taylor called out House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for continuing “to pay homage to a twice-impeached presidential loser,” and warned that if McCarthy becomes speaker, it’ll really be Trump’s hand on the gavel. That notion, he said, should give all Americans pause.
07.15.21-YOU GO LIZ-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) reportedly called out Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to his face on Jan. 6 as the insurrection unfolded and lawmakers were forced to flee as supporters of Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol. “You fucking did this,” she told him, according to an upcoming book, “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” by Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker.
(Liz, come over to our side!)
07.14.21-CARLSON AND INGRAHAM-DISGUSTING TRASH-Fox News Hammered With How Its Vaccine Coverage Will Go Down In History. CNN “New Day” anchors Brianna Keilar and John Berman hammered home the same point over and over on Wednesday — that 99% of people who are now dying from COVID-19 in the United States are unvaccinated. They also called out Fox News personalities including Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, other conservative media outlets and GOP lawmakers who have sown doubt about the COVID-19 vaccines that have been declared by scientists worldwide to safely slow the spread of the coronavirus.
07.13.21-TRUE!-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) urged Americans to get vaccinated to protect themselves from COVID-19 on Tuesday, calling the rising politicization of vaccines within his party “moronic.” “It’s grossly misfortunate and a huge human cost to have made vaccination political,” Romney told HuffPost when asked about attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas over the weekend cheering when a speaker noted the U.S. is having trouble reaching its vaccination goals.
07.12.21-PUNISH THE LIARS-Michigan’s AG, State Police Investigating Conspiracists Peddling Election Lies For Profit. State residents can be assured Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate, and should be wary of those pushing lies, warned a report backed by GOP lawmakers.
07.11.21-BATTY BOEBERT-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Slashes Lauren Boebert For Call To End Government Benefits. AOC (D-N.Y.) came out with rockets blasting at Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) Saturday after the right-wing lawmaker called for the end of government benefits at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “We’re here to tell government: ‘We don’t want your benefits. We don’t want your welfare,’” Boebert shouted as she marched back and forth across the stage in Dallas. “Don’t come to us with your Fauci ouchie. Leave us the hell alone!” AOC fired back: “Tell ’em loud and proud girl! GOP will strip your unemployment protections and dismantle any semblance of a public safety net we have left! Then make working people pay way more for everything on low wages while Wall St gets a meal ticket!” AOC sarcastically crowed: “Good ol conservative values baby!”
07.10.21-MORON ALERT-As the overheated Conservative Political Action Conference inspires increasingly zany claims. along comes uber-right Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) with a warning Friday that health care workers coming to homes to vaccinate people could also be out to grab Americans’ guns and Bibles. “Now they’re talking about going door-to-door to take vaccines to the people,” Cawthorn complained in an interview with the Right Side Broadcast Network at CPAC in Dallas, adding that the plan would require a “massive” operation. “Then think about what those mechanisms could be used for,” Cawthorn darkly warned. “They could then go door-to-door to take your guns. They could then go door-to-door to take your Bibles.” Cawthorn — who has lied about being accepted to the Naval Academy and about the car crash that partially paralyzed him — was apparently appalled when President Joe Biden earlier this week pushed for a COVID-19 vaccination outreach program as the delta variant surges and the U.S. coronavirus death toll nears 607,000.
07.09.21-THE WITCH HUNT SHOULD START WITH THESE TWO-Conspiracy theory-endorsing and frequent outrage-generating GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.) shouldn’t expect an endorsement from one major PAC that seeks to elect Republican women. Julie Conway, executive director of the Value In Electing Women group, dismissed both lawmakers as “carnival barkers” in an interview with Insider. Greene and Boebert were the only Republican women in Congress not being supported by the group, Conway said, and they won’t receive its backing during the 2022 midterms. “While we rightfully celebrate the number of GOP women serving in the House, I’ve always professed quality over quantity,” said Conway, whose committee says it has raised more than $20 million for female Republican candidates since its inception in 1997. “The work of Congress is not a joke or reality show,” she added. Conway said Republican women have “fought too hard for too long to be respected and taken seriously as legislators, policymakers and thought leaders.” “We cannot let this work be erased by individuals who chose to be shameless self-promoters and carnival barkers,” she added. “I think that they would rather draw attention to themselves, and really Marjorie Taylor Greene more than Boebert, but they’re cut from the same cloth.”
07.08.21-CRIMINAL ACTS-Arizona’s secretary of state has called for a criminal investigation into whether Trump and his political allies tried to illegally influence the results of the 2020 election in the days before Congress certified President Joe Biden’s White House win. There were “clear efforts to induce supervisors to refuse to comply with their duties” Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) said in a letter to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) on Wednesday. Evidence referenced by Hobbs includes text messages and phone calls that were placed to Republican members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as Trump’s campaign attempted to prevent the certification in key battleground states.
07.07.21-CRAZED LUNATIC-Trump praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler during a 2018 trip to France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, a new book claims. “Well, Hitler did a lot of good things,” the then-president told White House chief of staff John Kelly, according to passages from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender’s “‘Frankly, We Did Win This Election’: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost” that were published by The Guardian on Wednesday. Trump reportedly made the observation while Kelly was reminding him “which countries were on which side during the conflict” and connecting “the dots from the first world war to the second world war and all of Hitler’s atrocities,” said Bender. Kelly was “stunned” by Trump’s remark, told the then-president he “was wrong,” argued “the German people would have been better off poor than subjected to the Nazi genocide” and said “you cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can’t.” But Trump was “undeterred,” said Bender, and pointed to the recovery of Germany’s economy under Hitler in the 1930s as proof.
07.06.21-ALWAYS KNEW THEY ARE COWARDS-Terrified White Supremacists Run Away After Philadelphia March Goes Awry. A Patriot Front march in Philly didn’t go the way the group hoped when they had to flee angry counter-protesters.
07.07.21-ANOTHER REPUBLICAN SPEAKS-Former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) on Tuesday rejected the idea that there’s currently “a fight for the soul of the party” between moderate Republicans and sycophants of Trump. “There is nothing left of this Republican Party other than a party that’s able to embrace and to elevate an undemocratic, anti-republic theme that somehow we can engage in a fraud on the American people as long as it supports our guy winning an election,”
07.06.21-MORE BIG LIES-Six months after their leader tried to overturn the election he had lost by more than 7 million votes, Republicans have settled on a message about the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol: Insurrection? What insurrection? From calls to let bygones be bygones, to punishing dissidents who dare criticize Trump for instigating that day’s attack, to literally describing the mob as no different from everyday “tourists,” the Republican Party ― with notable exceptions ― has pushed the idea that the unprecedented attempt to overthrow American democracy was really no big deal.
07.05.21-GOOD SISTER ACT-Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who has espoused conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 insurrection and defended those who attacked the U.S. Capitol as “peaceful patriots,” is being called out publicly by his own sister. “He uses it ... to fundraise, and I find that even more despicable and disgusting,” Jennifer Gosar said on CNN over the weekend. She said her brother should be held “criminally accountable” if reports of his involvement with the organizers of the insurrection are true. CNN’s Pamela Brown asked Jennifer Gosar what she would say to her bother. “I wouldn’t communicate with him,” she said.
07.04.21-ON A DAY WHEN WE SHOULD BE CELEBRATING DEMOCRACY, THE RIGHT IS TEARING IT APART. Read this editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.07.03.21-GET THIS DEMON CARLSON OFF THE AIR. PLEASE!-CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner on Friday took Tucker Carlson to task over his often-criticized, irresponsible coverage of COVID-19. And the cardiologist asked a damning question of the Fox News personality. “Is the coronavirus one of his sponsors?” tweeted Reiner. Carlson seems hellbent on letting COVID go on as long as possible. He’s “questioned” the safety of vaccines. Now he says masks are unsafe. Somehow he never seems to have an actual expert on his show to discuss.
07.02.21-BIGGEST UGLY HYPOCRITE-Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Thursday he was “certainly looking” at running for president in 2024. But the Trump-supporting politician’s reasoning for another presidential campaign caused much mirth on Twitter. “I’ll tell you, 2016 was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” Cruz, who washed out in GOP primaries that year, said on Newsmax. During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump attacked the looks of Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, baselessly claimed Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and gave Cruz the disparaging nickname “Lyin’ Ted.’” Trump also suggested the Canadian-born senator “may not even have a legal right to run.” Cruz, in turn, called Trump a “sniveling coward.” After Trump’s victory, Cruz cozied up to him and became one of his most loyal defenders.
06.30.21-ANOTHER CRAZED REPUBLICAN-South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) will deploy up to 50 National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border, her office said Tuesday, with a highly unusual caveat — the mission will be funded by a “private donation” from an out-of-state GOP megadonor billionaire. Privately funding a military mission is an affront to civilian oversight of the armed forces, said military and oversight experts, describing the move — a Republican governor sending troops to a Republican-led state, paid for by a Republican donor — as likely unprecedented and unethical.
06.28.21-STILL TOO FEW REPUBLICANS-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) criticized former Trump on Sunday for continuing to recycle the same old talking points about the 2020 election and urged Republican leaders to tell voters the truth. At a rally in Ohio Saturday, his first since leaving office, Trump reprised his grievances about losing the 2020 election and falsely blamed it on voter fraud. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) likened the spectacle to WWE wrestling, saying it was “entertaining, but not real.” “I hope he’s right,” Kinzinger said of Romney’s take. “There’s a lot of people, though, that I’ve talked to, you know that are mad at me for just telling the truth, which used to be a pretty basic, you know, low bar, that really truly believe that Donald Trump was elected president again.” “It was a rally of a loser president,” Kinzinger added. “I mean, he’s the first president to lose reelection in decades.”
06.27.31-JUST ANOTHER HYPOCRITE-Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace sparred with Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) over Banks's vote against an emergency relief bill that would have allocated funds to police and first responders. "Can't you make the argument that it's you and the Republicans who defunded the police?" Wallace asked Banks, who is the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. Wallace said "that President Biden's American Rescue Plan, which Banks voted against, would have given localities more money to hire police officers, invest in new technology and create new crime intervention programs. But you and every other Republican voted against this $350 billion."
06.27.21-EVEN CHUMP'S LACKEY-Former Attorney General William Barr reportedly called Trump’s false claims of election fraud “bullshit,” according to a new book on the final days of the Trump administration.
06.25.21-THIS NETWORK IS A CESSPOOL-Fox News host Laura Ingraham went after Gen. Mark Milley, the Pentagon's top military commander, on her show Wednesday night after he waved off Republican complaints about a West Point seminar that taught critical race theory and, more generally, defended the practice of studying and trying to understand things you don't necessarily agree with. Her colleague Tucker Carlson joined in Thursday, calling the four-star general "a pig," "obsequious," and "stupid."
Fox News host Sean Hannity tore into The New York Times and its recent coverage of the behind-the-scenes drama at the right-wing cable network. But his harshest words may have been aimed at his colleague, Tucker Carlson. This week, New York Times columnist Ben Smith said Carlson dishes out off-the-record gossip about the network, Trump and other topics to reporters, calling his willingness to spill tea “one of Washington’s open secrets.” Sixteen journalists at other news outlets confirmed to Smith that Carlson had been a source.
06.24.21-NOW CANCEL HIM-Rudy Giuliani has been suspended from practicing law in the state of New York. Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and the former head prosecutor for the federal Southern District of New York, was suspended for making “false and misleading statements” about the election loss of his client, Trump.
06.23.21-IT'S ABOUT TIME-The Biden administration has forced out the head of the U.S. Border Patrol, Rodney Scott, clearing a path for a leadership overhaul at an agency strained by a 20-year-high in illegal border crossings, and whose top officials were broadly sympathetic to President Trump. AND-A new Supreme Court ruling could clear the way for President Joe Biden to fire the Trump appointees running the Social Security Administration.
06.23.21-JUST THINK IF THIS MANIAC HAD BEEN REELECTED-Trump railed against “Saturday Night Live” and actor Alec Baldwin, and fueled an unhinged conspiracy theory while attacking a report in The Daily Beast on Tuesday. The website reported that the former president had attempted to sic federal agencies, including the Justice Department, on late-night comedians who made fun of him. Trump called the story “total Fake News,” but added that “Baldwin has no talent, certainly when it comes to imitating me.” Trump added that late-night comedy was an “illegal campaign contribution” to Democrats. But it was the conclusion of his message where Trump really went off the rails. Trump closed his statement with “2024 or before!” ― a nod to a conspiracy theory that claims he will overthrow the elected government and again take office before the next election in 2024.
06.21.21-HATE IS MUTUAL-Fox News’ Juan Williams wrote Monday that Republicans lack substance and a plan as they mimic the “lowball strategy” of Trump. In an essay for The Hill titled “Trump’s GOP Descends Into Farce,” Williams conceded that the twice-impeached ex-POTUS still has a hold on the GOP and remains a legitimate party hopeful for 2024. “The problem for Trump is that while his candidacy is the tallest tree in the GOP jungle, it has shallow roots in the soft, shifting soil of a cult of personality,” he wrote. “At his maximum political power, Trump is a towering idol for a fickle crowd that agrees on only one thing — hating Democrats.”
06.20.21-TODAY'S DUNCE-MIKE PENCE-He keeps forgetting that the Jan 6 insurrectionists wanted to murder him. They even constructed a set of gallows outside the capital building. Say's he is tired of cancel culture, after they tried to cancel him.
06.19.21-CARLSON=SCUM! The conspiracy theory — that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol was a false flag event orchestrated by the FBI — traveled the way so many conspiracy theories do in America: from a fringe far-right site run by a white nationalist to this country’s most-watched cable news show. “Strangely, some of the key people who participated on Jan. 6 have not been charged,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson told millions of viewers on Tuesday. “Look at the documents. The government calls those people ‘unindicted co-conspirators.’ What does that mean? Well, it means that in potentially every single case, they were FBI operatives.”
06.18.21-JAIL TIME?-Trump faces RICO exposure in two separate probes and that’s putting legendary mafia prosecutions back in the spotlight. Legal experts see RICO as a powerful tool in these Trump probes. The Manhattan District Attorney has the power to indict an entire company.
06.17.21-SOME GOOD NEWS-The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are both struggling to bring in money and hold onto members, as the far-right organizations deal with the repercussions of being connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
06.17.21-ANOTHER UGLY REPUBLICAN-A DC Metropolitan Police officer who defended the US Capitol on January 6 blasted GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde on Wednesday evening for what he called "disgusting" behavior during a tense exchange. Michael Fanone, who was stun-gunned several times and beaten with a flagpole during the riot, told CNN's Don Lemon that he had come across Clyde in the Capitol and had been dismissed by the congressman after approaching him outside an elevator Wednesday afternoon.
06.14.21-DEFINITION OF A LIAR-Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insists she never lied when she worked for then-president Donald Trump and suggested she can’t because of her faith. In comments she said: “As a woman of faith, as a mother of baby Blake, as a person who meticulously prepared at some of the world’s hardest institutions, I never lied. I sourced my information, but that will never stop the press from calling you a liar.” McEnany took the job in April 2020 with her now-infamous vow to never lie. However, she had such a long and extensive history of falsehoods that CNN’s Jake Tapper refused to have her on his show, saying McEnany “lies the way that most people breathe” and “can’t acknowledge reality.” Out of seven McEnany claims reviewed by PolitiFact, just three were rated as “mostly true.” The rest were listed as either “half true,” “mostly false,” “false” or “pants on fire.” Last year, for example, she claimed Trump “never downplayed the virus” despite audio of him admitting to doing exactly that, in those exact words. “I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told Bob Woodward. McEnany’s new claim that she had never lied caused her name to trend on Twitter, mostly due to disbelief:
06.11.21-DIRTY TRICKS-Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced Friday that his office is launching a probe following reports that the department had sought the records of journalists and prominent critics of former president Donald Trump on the House Intelligence Committee.In a statement, Horowitz said the review “will examine the Department’s compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations.”
06.09.21-MORON ALERT-During a House Natural Resources Hearing with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R) asked, apparently earnestly, if there was anything the two government agencies could do to combat global warming by changing "the course of the moon's orbit or the Earth's orbit around the sun?" He then stated that such an interstellar overhaul would obviously have "profound effects" on the Earth's climate.
06.08.21-LISTEN TO OBAMA-Barack Obama on Monday lamented the GOP’s embrace of Trump’s election lies, saying the Republican Party has been “cowed into accepting” conspiracy theories that would have been unacceptable previously. “I think we have to worry when one of our major political parties is willing to embrace a way of thinking about our democracy that would be unrecognizable and unacceptable even five years ago or a decade ago,” the former president told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
06.07.21-TRAITOR-Manchin Says He’ll Vote Against Voting Rights Bill, Dooming Dems’ Election Overhaul Efforts. The West Virginia senator’s unwillingness to back legislation without Republican support could jeopardize Democrats’ ability to pass key bills.
06.06.21-SICKENING!“Blood may be thicker than water, but apparently it’s not thicker than Kool-Aid.” So said CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Friday as she showed how prominent Republicans are more than happy to throw their relatives under the bus when it comes to proving their support for Trump. The “New Day” anchor examined how Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, Rep. Greg Pence and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have all put fealty to Trump over family. “Even if he calls your wife ugly. Mocks your dad. Puts a target on your brother’s back or rips your uncle,” said Keilar. “In the age of Trump, truly, you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.”
06.04.21-PENCE'S ONLY MODE IS GROVELING-Sometimes, you wish Mike Pence would just stand up for himself. The former vice president earned something of a reputation as a lapdog while serving under Donald Trump, repeatedly making it clear during their four years together that there was "no daylight" between the two — no matter how extreme and awful the president's behavior became. The Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol should have changed everything. Pence rightly refused Trump's demand that he attempt to block certification of the 2020 election. Trump, in turn, incited the crowd that broke into the House and Senate chambers, with some rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" If you can't be angry at the guy who almost got you killed, who can you be mad at?
06.03.21-LOSER TRUMP-Trump’s blog, celebrated by advisers as a “beacon of freedom” that would keep him relevant in an online world he once dominated, is dead. It was 29 days old. Upset by reports from outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media platform he wants to launch later this year, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery, advisers said.
06.01.21-A REPUBLICAN SPEAKS-Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich) blasted conservatives “salivating for civil war” in a series of messages on Memorial Day, saying they are “treacherous snakes” who “can go straight to hell.” Meijer, an Iraq War veteran who assumed office earlier this year, has made a name for himself as one of the few members in his party to buck the whims of Trump. On Twitter, he said he struggled with Memorial Day this year:
05.31.21-GETTING SCARIER EVERY DAY-Avowed QAnon disciple and confessed felon retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has called for a Myanmar-like military coup in America. “It should happen,” Trump’s former national security adviser said in an astonishing declaration at a QAnon conference Sunday. Myanmar’s military violently seized control of the country from its civilian government in late January, detained democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and top party members, and killed more than 700 protesters as of early this month. The military justified its action by claiming unproven “election fraud.”
05.30.21-MAFIA FAMILY-Experts Believe Prosecutors Are Mulling ‘Little RICO’ Mob Law Against Trump Org: Report. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. may be looking at Trump’s business as a possible criminal enterprise. “No self-respecting state white-collar prosecutor would forgo considering the enterprise corruption charge,” veteran Manhattan defense attorney Robert Anello told Politico, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s probe into Trump and the Trump Organization. “I’m sure they’re thinking about that.”
05.28.21-I LOVE A GOOD FIGHT AMONG MORONS-Former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) offered a veiled criticism of Trump in a speech Thursday night in which he urged the Republican Party not to rely on the “appeal of one personality.” But Ryan, according to his prepared remarks, did not explicitly name Trump in his critique. When Ryan did name Trump, it was to praise him for advancing “practical conservative policy.” The comments drew a rebuke from Trump. “Paul Ryan has been a curse to the Republican Party,” the former president said in a statement Friday morning. “He has no clue as to what needs to be done for our country, was a weak and ineffective leader, and spends all of his time fighting Republicans as opposed to Democrats who are destroying our country.”
05.27.21-DITCH MITCH-It has long been obvious that Mitch McConnell puts party before country, but this week he actually admitted it. He told Republican colleagues that they should oppose the creation of a Jan. 6 commission, no matter how it is structured, because it “could hurt the party’s midterm election message,” as Politico’s Burgess Everett reported. And so, as early as Thursday, McConnell will use the filibuster to thwart a bipartisan effort to prevent further attacks on the U.S. government by domestic terrorists — because he thinks it’s good politics for Republicans.
05.27.21-NO SURPRISE-Trump allegedly attempted to stop a congressional probe of the Spygate case involving the New England Patriots by offering a bribe to then-Sen. Arlen Specter, the late senator’s son claimed Wednesday.
05.24.21-PLEASE, REPUBLICANS, MORE OF YOU SPEAK UP-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Sunday tore into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for “not telling the truth” about their party’s role in the deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol in January. During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Kinzinger told host Chris Wallace that forming a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack — like the commission formed after 9/11 — is critical and that efforts to block its creation by McCarthy and other GOP leaders are reprehensible. “What we need is a comprehensive look of what happened that led up to Jan. 6,” Kinzinger said. “Who was talking to who? What were the lies?” “The American people deserve the truth,” he continued, “and my party to this point has said things like it was hugs and kisses, it was antifa and [Black Lives Matter], it was anything but what it was, which was a Trump-inspired insurrection on the Capitol.”
05.21.21-SIGNS OF FASCISM-The Justice Department in 2020 secretly obtained phone and email records from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, CNN reported and the Justice Department confirmed Thursday night. The Justice Department's May 13 letter to Starr informing her it had obtained her 2017 records follows a May 3 letter to three Washington Post reporters with similar notifications.
05.21.21-MORE LUNACY-ARIZONA VOTING MACHINES NOW UNUSABLE DUE TO RECOUNT Arizona's secretary of state told Maricopa County officials that hundreds of vote-tabulating machines should no longer be used because of their handling by the "amateur, uncertified" company hired by state Senate Republicans to recount ballots cast in November's presidential election. Cyber Ninjas broke the "chain of custody" for machine possession, Katie Hobbs said.
05.18.21-SHEER LUNACY-The Republican-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Monday denounced an ongoing audit of the 2020 election vote as a “sham” and a “con,” calling on the GOP-led state Senate to end the controversial recount that has been championed by former president Donald Trump. In a fiery public meeting and subsequent letter to state Senate President Karen Fann, the board members said the audit has been inept, promoted falsehoods and defamed the public servants who ran the fall election. Calling the process a “spectacle that is harming all of us,” the five members of the board — including four Republicans — asked the state Senate to recognize that it is essential to call off the audit, which officials have said is only about one-quarter complete. “It is time to make a choice to defend the Constitution and the Republic,” they wrote. “We stand united together to defend the Constitution and the Republic in our opposition to the Big Lie. We ask everyone to join us in standing for the truth,” they added, using a term that refers to the false claim that the election was stolen. In a calculated show of unity, they were joined by Maricopa’s other elected officials: the sheriff, a Democrat; and the Republican county recorder, who leads the elections office.
05.16.21-REPUBLICANS SPEAK-Arizona’s Republican chair of the Maricopa County’s Board of Supervisors has slammed the partisan, highly controversial GOP-launched recount there as “dangerous.” And a GOP county election official ripped Donald Trump on Saturday as “unhinged” for parroting false complaints about the ballots. “We can’t indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country,” Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer tweeted. Board of Supervisors Chair Jack Sellers blasted the Cyber Ninjas company hired by the GOP-dominated state Senate to scrutinize the 2.1 million county ballots as being in “way over their heads,” reported the local Daily Independent.
05.15.21-ANOTHER SICK REPUBLICAN-The furor over Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) treatment of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has sparked new worries that lawmakers could be in danger from their own colleagues. The concern has reached a different order of intensity since the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, when members of Congress literally feared for their lives. Greene’s encounters with some of her Democratic colleagues, along with a confrontation between a Greene staffer and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), show just how febrile the atmosphere on Capitol Hill has become. In an exchange witnessed by The Hill’s Scott Wong on Friday morning, a Greene staffer challenged Swalwell over the Democrat wearing a mask. Swalwell retorted, “You don’t tell me what to f---king do.” Soon afterward on Twitter, Swalwell said Greene’s aide had attempted to bully him, adding: “I told the bully what I thought of his order. Predictably, he went speechless. I regret I wasn’t more explicit.”
05.13.21-DISGUSTING AND SICK-Several House Republicans on Wednesday tried to recast and downplay the events of Jan. 6, comparing the mob that breached the Capitol to tourists, railing against law enforcement for seeking to arrest them and questioning how anyone could be sure the rioters were supporters of Trump. The Republicans’ distortions about the most violent attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812 defy the well-documented reality of what occurred that day — 140 police officers were injured, some bludgeoned with flagpoles and baseball bats, with one officer’s eye gouged out; rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and erected a gallows on the Capitol grounds; and members of the House and the Senate were rushed to safety in secure locations for several hours. The attack resulted in five dead.
05.11.21-WE NEED MORE OF THIS-There was no shortage of prominent Republican voices questioning the direction of their party over the weekend. For example, Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, said on MSNBC yesterday that his party has "sunken to the lowest of lows" by treating Donald Trump as its "savior." Around the same time, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told NBC News his party is becoming a "circular firing squad." He added, "It bothers me you have to swear fealty to the Dear Leader or you get kicked out of the party." And then there was Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), appearing on CBS, offering a memorable analogy about the state of the contemporary GOP. "I mean, right now it's basically like we're the Titanic. We're in the middle of this slow sink, there's a band on deck telling everyone it's fine, meanwhile Donald Trump is looking for women's clothing trying to get on the first lifeboat," he said. The Illinois Republican, who supported Trump's impeachment in January, added, "I think there's a few of us that are just saying, 'Guys, this is not good, not just for the future of the party, but this is not good for the future of this country."
05.09.21-WAKE UP REPUBLICANS-House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Sunday slammed the Republican Party, saying the GOP is “losing its way on all fronts” while pointing a finger at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Clyburn responded to remarks made by McConnell last week when the Kentucky Republican said that 100 percent of his focus is standing up “in opposition to what the new Biden administration is trying to do to this country.” When asked by host Jake Tapper what those comments mean for bipartisanship in the Senate, Clyburn blamed McConnell for the current posture of the Republican Party. “Mitch McConnell has some personal animus toward Democrats that ought not be. We are one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let's operate like that. This Republican Party is losing its way on all fronts, and Mitch McConnell is contributing to that in a big way,” Clyburn said.
05.08.21-PARADE OF COWARDS-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Friday that only a handful of his Republican colleagues in the House actually believe Trump’s election lies. The vast majority of House Republicans, Kinzinger told CNN’s Jake Tapper, were simply boarding the Trump train in a desperate bid to preserve their jobs. “How many actually believe it? Five, probably, if that, maybe? I don’t know, but it’s in the single, it’s low,” said Kinzinger, a vocal critic of Trump who defied his party to vote for the impeachment of the former president for inciting the deadly U.S. Capitol riot. “People don’t believe it,” he continued. “But what they are doing is they’re sitting around saying, ‘I need to continue to exist in this job so that I can make an impact. I don’t have the courage or the strength or the ability to swing this party, so I’m going to just kinda put my head down and go along.’”
05.06.21-STEALING CREDIT-Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said it pained her to vote against the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. But in the weeks that followed, the first-term Republican issued a news release celebrating more than $3.7 million from the package that went to community health centers in her district as one of her “achievements.” She said she prided herself on “bringing federal funding to the district and back into the pockets of taxpayers.” Malliotakis is far from alone. Every Republican in Congress voted against the sweeping pandemic relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law three months ago. But since the early spring votes, Republicans from New York and Indiana to Texas and Washington state have promoted elements of the legislation they fought to defeat.
05.05.21-THIS FOOL IS ACTUALLY THE 'BIG LIE'-One day after launching his new “communications platform, Trump used it to launch an attack on Mike Pence, Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell. Trump’s grievance-filled post ripped into the three prominent Republicans for failing to back his 2020 election lies and help him cheat his way to reelection, using run-on sentences like this one attacking Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican:
05.04.21-TAX TRUTH-If all of Biden’s proposed tax increases passed — on the corporate tax, as well as on investment taxes and income taxes for top earners — the total federal tax rate on the wealthy would remain significantly lower than it was in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. It would also remain somewhat lower than during the mid-1990s, based on an analysis that Gabriel Zucman of the University of California, Berkeley, did for The Morning.
05.03.21-MORE FOX FOLLIES-Back in 2015, Dan Price of Gravity Payments shocked the business world by slashing his own $1.1 million pay package to help fund a minimum “living wage” of $70,000 for all workers at his credit card processing company Gravity Payments. Of course FOX News and some conservatives criticized him as a “socialist” on Fox News and Fox Business......
Click here to see the results
05.02.21-REPUBLICAN MADNESS-Cindy McCain on Sunday called the GOP-backed election audit in Arizona "ludicrous." McCain, a prominent Arizona Republican and the wife of late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and was asked by host Jake Tapper about the audit. "Listen, this whole thing is ludicrous, quite frankly. It's ludicrous. And this also comes from a state party in Arizona that refused to be audited themselves on votes that were cast within their own party communications," Cindy McCain said.
04.30.21-THIS HAPPENS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY-As federal investigators searched the phone records of a violent extremist in California last August, they discovered an unexpected voice of authority joining in a group chat with racist slurs and threats. In texts with a group that called itself “Shadow Moses,” a Georgia sheriff’s deputy boasted about beating a Black man during an arrest, threatened to falsely charge Black people with felonies so that they could not vote and advocated for killing politicians and others he viewed as political enemies, the FBI said in court documents.
04.29.21-THIS IS REALLY TRUMP SPEAKING-MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace made quick work of Sen. Tim Scott’s Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s first speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. “This is a speech delivered from a planet where facts don’t matter, which is where the current Republican Party resides,” said Wallace. “It’s really not his fault, but it is his responsibility to get his facts straight.” Scott (R-S.C.) claimed in his speech that the “tide had already turned” against coronavirus before Biden took office and credited Trump for that. Wallace wasn’t buying it. “He said that Biden inherited a country that had already rounded the bend on COVID,” she said. “Four thousand people a day were dying in January, so I don’t know, again, on what planet we rounded the bend.” She said Scott’s speech contained “a lot of disinformation” that felt “almost scripted” by someone close to Trump.
04.28.21-WILL THIS EVER STOP?-A longtime New York Post reporter said she has resigned after being “ordered” to write a false story that claimed undocumented minors were being welcomed to the United States with copies of a children’s book written by Vice President Harris. “The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point,” Laura Italiano tweeted Tuesday afternoon, several hours after her viral article about the books had been deleted from the Post’s website and replaced with corrected versions.
04.27.21-WHAT IDIOT WOULD BELIEVE THIS? OH, YEAH.-On Friday, FOX anchor John Roberts told viewers about a University of Michigan study that suggested cutting back on eating red meat would decrease harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Although the study was first presented in 2020 and wasn’t connected to Biden in anyway, Fox News decided to connect nonexistent dots with a graphic, “Up in Your Grill: Biden’s Climate Requirements,” of data from the Michigan study, according to Forbes.com. Over the weekend, other Fox personalities ran with the false claim, especially Larry Kudlow, Donald Trump’s former White House economic adviser, who ridiculously insisted Biden’s next step would be to ban burgers and steaks on the Fourth of July. The claims got enough traction that a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told The Hill on Monday that the claims made by Fox News were “a fabrication” and said any burger ban is “not a part of the climate plan nor the emissions targets. It is not real.” On Monday, Roberts then walked back Friday’s false claim with a correction.
04.26.21-MORE REPUBLICAN WHITE SUPREMACY-During a talk last week former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum offered his views on the founding of America, which he ties to the Judeo-Christian principles of persecuted Europeans who crossed the Atlantic and "created a blank slate ... birthed a nation from nothing. I mean there was nothing here." Critics decried Santorum's remarks as not only historically inaccurate, but also as an example of white supremacy and the erasure of Native American history and culture.
04.25.21-REPUBLICAN PARTY FUTURE-No one should be surprised that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), one of the instigators behind the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has refused to break ties with True Texas Project, a MAGA-type group that is so divisive that other conservatives have distanced themselves from it. The Post reports: “As Trump’s presidency normalized and elevated far-right, anti-immigrant voices, TTP’s messaging grew more extreme, at times echoing white-supremacist talking points.”
04.24.21-SMACK DOWN-Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tried to sneak through a stealth phrase of praise for white people, but it got taken down — hard — in the House on Thursday. Cotton, the man who has called slavery a “necessary evil,” was attempting to make a case for why Wyoming deserves to be a state but Washington, D.C., which has a larger population, does not. Wyoming, incidentally, has a population that is 92.5% white and 1.3% Black, according to census figures. The District of Columbia is 45.4% Black and 42.5% white. Cotton hailed Wyoming over the District of Columbia, which is seeking statehood, because he said Wyoming has “three times as many workers in mining, logging and construction, and 10 times as many workers in manufacturing. In other words, Wyoming is a well-rounded, working-class state,” apparently inferring D.C. couldn’t match up. Freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) later observed on the House floor: “One Senate Republican said that D.C. wouldn’t be a, quote, well-rounded, working-class state. I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word ‘white.’”
04.23.21-SURPRISE!-NOT-When first announced in 2017, Foxconn's plan to build a massive electronics factory in Wisconsin was hailed by Trump as a sign of the rebirth of American manufacturing. But nearly four years later, the complex that promised to create a Silicon Valley in the industrial Midwest is essentially a white elephant, a collection of mostly empty buildings without any high-tech products to build. And this week it became official: The pledged investment of up to $10 billion to create as many as 13,000 jobs is not coming.
04.22.21-LOUDMOUTH CALLED OUT-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) seemed to admit Wednesday that she hasn’t read the climate change bill she wants to debate about with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
04.22.21-ANOTHER DUMBASS-Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) railed against public health advice on Wednesday with a warped suggestion for how President Joe Biden could boost uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. “If you want more people to get vaccinated, Joe Biden should go on national TV, take his mask off and burn it,” the Kentucky Republican told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum. “Light a torch to it and burn his mask and say, ‘I’ve had the vaccine, I am now safe from this plague. If you get the vaccine, you can be safe, too,’” he added.
04.22.21-MORE MCCARTHY HYPOCROSY-A conservative organization is calling out House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for hypocrisy after he tried to censure Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) this week. He accused Waters of using “violent rhetoric” when she told protesters to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational” if former police officer Derek Chauvin wasn’t found guilty in the George Floyd murder case. But as the new video from the Republican Accountability Project shows, McCarthy has ignored far more violent rhetoric from inside his own conference. The spot includes clips from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) urging people to “go to the streets and be violent,” and Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) telling supporters to “lightly threaten” their lawmakers. McCarthy has not moved to censure them. The ad also includes some violent rhetoric from Trump, who McCarthy continues to support. “If Kevin McCarthy really opposes dangerous rhetoric, he can start by cleaning up his own house,” states the voiceover in the video, which will air on Fox News during “Hannity” in Washington, D.C. next week:
04.21.21-PRETTY, HYPOCRITICAL MORON-Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany was called out for hypocrisy on Tuesday for her latest attack on President Joe Biden, which completely ignored the behavior of her previous employer, Trump. “I think it’s the role of the president of the United States to stay back, to not inflame the tensions,” McEnany said on the air after Biden offered an opinion on Derek Chauvin’s trial.
04.20.21-THE FOOL PROVES HE IS A FOOL!-Mike Lindell has had some problems launching his social network , including being pranked by Trump impersonators. One caller got through by claiming to be Trump-a very foul-mouthed Trump. “Hello everyone,” the fake Trump said. Lindell, who bent his body over the speaker where the voice was emanating, got excited. “Aw, we have the president here-our real president everyone,” Lindell exclaimed. “Hello, Mr. President!” Sadly for Lindell, the person claiming to be the president didn’t respond in kind. “MacronShow.com, bitches! MacronShow.com!” Ron Blackman, who hosts the British podcast “The Macron Show,” later took credit on Twitter for the prank call, and told HuffPost that Lindell deserves whatever he gets.
04.20.21-THE WAR CRIMINAL SPEAKS-Former President George W. Bush called today's GOP "isolationist, protectionist, and to a certain extent, nativist," during an interview with NBC's "Today.
04.18.21-JOHN BOEHNER WANTS US TO FORGET HE WAS TAKEN DOWN BY THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER HE HELPED CAUSE-Boehner called Trump “a little crazy,” said former President Bill Clinton is “the best politician I’ve ever met” and praised President Joe Biden as “a really good guy.” But his tone shifted when Colbert asked about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). “Lucifer in the flesh,. The most miserable son of a bitch I ever had to deal with.”
04.17.21-HITLER WOULD BE PROUD!-Several House Republicans, led by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.), are forming a caucus that calls for a "common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions." A policy platform for the group, which calls itself the America First Caucus, declares that "a certain intellectual boldness is needed" in order to "follow in Trump’s footsteps, and potentially step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation." The seven-page document, first obtained by Punchbowl News, is explicit in its nativist rhetoric and describes American culture as dominated by "Anglo-Saxon" and European influences
04.15.21-IF ONLY!-In 2015 and 2016, Trump's Republican primary rivals and other GOP officials tried to dodge his withering personal insults "while hoping that external events and news media coverage would ultimately lead to his downfall," Maggie Haberman recalls at The New York Times. That strategy obviously failed. But many Republican leaders are once more hoping, mostly in private, that time or some heaven-sent deus ex machina makes Trump fade into retirement, despite his clear intention to retain control over the GOP.
04.14.21-DANGEROUS TUCKER AGAIN-In a Tuesday night segment, Carlson questioned why those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are still advised to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, proceeding to baselessly suggest of the vaccines, "Maybe it doesn't work and they're simply not telling you that." Asked to comment on these remarks on CNN on Wednesday, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, dismissed them as "crazy." "That's just a typical crazy conspiracy theory," Fauci said. "Why would we not tell people if it doesn't work? Look at the data. The data are overwhelming." Fauci added that "I don't have any idea what he's talking about." Asked by CNN's John Berman how "dangerous" these comments by Carlson are, Fauci said they're "certainly not helpful to the public health of this nation or even globally."
04.13.21-MORE FOX CRAP-Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson is calling out her one-time employer for defending current network star Tucker Carlson, who has repeatedly spewed white supremacist talking points on the air. After the Anti-Defamation League urged the network to drop its top-rated host, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch defended him, saying “we respectfully disagree” and claiming the company “abhors antisemitism, white supremacy and racism of any kind.” But Gretchen Carlson wasn’t buying it. "This is a crock of s--- Lachlan."
04.10.21-TALK ABOUT FAKE NEWS-‘Yippee!’ Trump Officials Gloated After They Manipulated CDC Reports And Advice. House panel on COVID-19 accuses aides of “overruling and bullying scientists and making harmful decisions that allowed the virus to spread more rapidly.”
04.08.21-MORE DIRTY WORK-The National Republican Congressional Committee threatened donors that it will tell Trump that they are defectors if they opt out of giving recurring monthly funds to the campaign arm for the House GOP. After donating to the NRCC, donors are shown a yellow box with a small pre-checked box that warns: “If you UNCHECK this box, we will have to tell Trump you’re a DEFECTOR.” Left checked and the supporter will be agreeing to contribute every month.
04.08.21-DIRTY WORK-During an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) said the new voting restrictions are "the fallout from the 10 weeks of misinformation that flew in from Trump. I went back over the weekend to really look at where this really started to gain momentum in the legislature, and it was when Rudy Giuliani showed up in a couple of committee rooms and spent hours spreading misinformation and sowing doubt across, you know, hours of testimony."
04.07.21-THE SENATE'S BIGGEST HYPOCRITE-McConnell defends corporations when it comes to donating money but wants to keep them from speaking out about Republican attempts to silence voters.
04.04.21-TYPICAL TRUMP FRAUD-Former President Trump's reelection campaign had to return $122.7 million to donors after they realized they were being charged repeatedly. People who donated, say, $500 were being charged that amount not just once, but every month—or even every week—until the election. To avoid being overcharged, donors had to get through the fine print and uncheck a box, the New York Times reports. A second box, which arrived already checked, doubled contributions. In time, lines of bold type were added that drowned out the fine print about opting out, and the wording about unchecking the box was no longer in bold. The practice fits the definition of "deceptive design," a user-experience designer said. "It should be in textbooks of what you shouldn't do," he said. The head of the National Association of Consumer Advocates said, "It's unfair, it’s unethical and it's inappropriate."
04.03.21-WE DON'T NEED DOUCHE BAGS LIKE THIS IN THE U.S. CONGRESS-Rep. Matt Gaetz repeatedly boasted to people involved in Florida politics about women he met through a county tax collector who has since been charged by federal authorities with sex trafficking of a minor, according to two people who heard his comments directly. They said the Republican congressman, first elected in 2016, also showed them videos on his phone of naked or topless women on multiple occasions, including at parties with Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector for Seminole County. The women appeared to be adults, and could be seen dancing, hanging out by a pool and, in one case, using a hula hoop without clothing, the people said.
04.02.21-GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL-DO NOT PASS GO-The last time Vanity Fair checked in on the legal comings and goings of Donald Trump, things were not looking so hot for the former president of the United States. In addition to being the defendant in no fewer than 29 lawsuits, per The Washington Post, he was the subject of numerous criminal investigations, including one in which attorneys had obtained access to his tax returns—documents that for some reason he spent the last four years fighting tooth and nail to keep secret. Now, two and half months after leaving the White House, have Trump‘s legal fortunes miraculously improved? In a word, no. In 19 words, the 45th president of the United States should probably just resign himself to the prospect of going to prison. (Will Allen Weisselberg flip?)
04.01.21-TRUMP'S QANON PROTECTS ONE OF HIS OWN-You'd think adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory would feel vindicated by leaked allegations of sexual misconduct toward a minor by a sitting member of Congress. After all, abuse of children by powerful people, especially federal officials, is one of the movement's biggest purported concerns. But Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is the subject of just such a leak, and the QAnon response is not crows of vindication. QAnon followers have already reached a verdict: innocent.
04.01.21-ANOTHER IGNORANT REPUBLICAN-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) was ridiculed on Twitter after appearing to show that she doesn’t really know what infrastructure is. Noem, touted by Trump as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, was asked by Fox News’ Sean Hannity for her take on President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill. The bill seeks to overhaul the country’s roads and bridges, counter the climate crisis and revitalize the eldercare and housing sectors. But Noem drove herself straight into a ditch. “I was shocked by how much doesn’t go into infrastructure,” she said. “It goes into research and development, it goes into housing and pipes and different initiatives, green energy, and it’s not really an honest conversation that we’re having about what this proposal is.”
03.31.21-ANOTHER LIAR ADDED TO FOX-Kayleigh McEnany, who peddled and defended Donald Trump’s lies during her time as White House press secretary, has a plum new gig at Fox News. McEnany joined the conservative network — where for the last few years many personalities have openly stumped for Trump ― as a paid on-air contributor last month.
03.30.21-ALWAYS THE FOOL!-Trump took the microphone at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night, to praise a couple getting married at his Florida resort. Nearly 400 words later he did so, according to video published by the website TMZ, after a rambling complaint about Joe Biden’s policy towards Iran and China, the situation at the border with Mexico and the supposed fraud he claims caused his election defeat.
03.28.21-REALLY, JUST SAYING 'LYING FOX NEWS' WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH-Fox News personalities on Friday complained about CNN’s fact-checking of President Joe Biden — and were sharply fact-checked in response. Fox’s Dan Bongino and contributor Joe Concha falsely suggested fact-checkers in the press who held Trump to account for his thousands of lies have suddenly vanished since Biden took office. CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy responded on Twitter, noting how the network’s fact-checking reporter Daniel Dale continues to scrutinize Biden ― and even appeared on TV on Thursday to debunk some of the claims that Biden made during his first press conference as president.
03.28.21-MORE BLOOD ON TRUMP'S HANDS-Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator under Trump, said most coronavirus deaths in the United States could have been prevented if the Trump administration had acted earlier and more decisively.
03.27.21-SICK EXTREMISTS-"Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine," the N.Y. Times' Neil MacFarquhar reports. "Bashing of ... vaccines is occurring in chatrooms frequented by all manner of right-wing groups including the Proud Boys; the Boogaloo movement, a loose affiliation known for wanting to spark a second Civil War; and various paramilitary organizations."
03.26.21-JIM CROW LIVES!-When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) shared a photo of himself signing a new bill to restrict voting access in the state, it featured Republican lawmakers gazing fondly upon him, as well as a prominent painting in the background.
The bill has been criticized as a measure that will largely affect Black voters and other voters of color, with groups like the ACLU arguing it amounts to voter suppression among already-disenfranchised groups. Kemp has denied that the bill seeks to suppress votes. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Will Bunch agreed, calling it the state's "new, new Jim Crow." Bunch also reports that the painting centered in Kemp's photo is actually a painting of "a notorious slave plantation in Wilkes County."
03.25.21-HEY TRUTH-WATCH OUT!-Trump is coming back to social media -- but this time with his own network, a Trump spokesperson told Fox News on Sunday.
03.25.21-SAD NEWS-The US has fallen to a new low in a global ranking of political rights and civil liberties, a drop fueled by unequal treatment of minority groups, damaging influence of money in politics, and increased polarization, according to a new report by Freedom House, a democracy watchdog group.
The US earned 83 out of 100 possible points this year in Freedom House’s annual rankings of freedoms around the world, an 11-point drop from its ranking of 94 a decade ago. The US’s new ranking places it on par with countries like Panama, Romania and Croatia and behind countries such as Argentina and Mongolia. It lagged far behind countries like the United Kingdom (93), Chile (93), Costa Rica (91) and Slovakia (90).
03.24.21-TODAY'S DISGUSTING PERSON-Attorney Sidney Powell, you may recall, was the Madame Defarge of the recent attempt to overturn the election results. She knitted elaborate lawsuits from the yarns of unreliable witnesses, patterned with a vast conspiracy to rig voting machines, as the partisans she inflamed rolled their tumbrels toward the Capitol in search of such supposed traitors as then-Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Sued for defamation by the voting-machine vendor in question, Powell is now scoffing in federal court at the idea that anyone could have taken her seriously. “Reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact,” Powell averred in her motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Instead, the allegations that helped to fuel the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol were mere “claims that await testing by the courts.
I took a break at this point but found that I needed to resume posting, in order to have a record of all the Republican/Trump crap that will follow.
02.27.21-Former CPAC Chair Minces No Words Slamming What The Event, GOP Have Now Become. This year’s Conservative Political Action Conference attendees “are living in an alternate reality in which facts don’t matter,” said former GOP Rep. Mickey Edwards.
02.26.21-NO CONSCIENCE SCUM-CPAC attendees boo and yell 'freedom' after being told to wear a mask
02.25.21-THIS IS WHAT IT HAS COME TO-QANON REP TAUNTS COLLEAGUE WITH TRANSPHOBIC SIGN Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene mocked her neighbor at the U.S. Capitol — Rep. Marie Newman — by erecting an anti-transgender sign outside her office. Newman, whose daughter is transgender, is an advocate of the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week.
02.24.21-ANOTHER RIGHT WING NUT-On Tuesday, the former leaders of the Capitol Police and other authorities entrusted with protecting the Capitol building testified about the Jan. 6 attack, telling conflicting stories about what happened that day. One thing that clearly didn't happen was what Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) shared during his chance to question the law enforcement leaders: An account of the day published in the conservative publication The Federalist alleging those who broke into the Capitol were seemingly professional provocateurs and not the "working-class" people seen protesting outside early in the day.
02.22.21-HOORAY! GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL!-Trump just suffered a huge Supreme Court defeat. The Court on Monday allowed Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance to obtain Trump's tax returns, CNN reports. The court decided not to intervene and prevent the records from being turned over, according to The Associated Press.
02.21.21-WACK JOB-Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking House Republican, still won’t say the 2020 presidential election wasn’t “stolen,” a claim Trump has falsely ― and dangerously ― peddled for months. Scalise, the House minority whip, was asked Sunday during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” to confirm President Joe Biden’s legitimacy. “Clear this up for me: Joe Biden won the election,” said host Jon Karl. “He is the legitimate president of the United States. The election was not stolen, correct?” Scalise acknowledged that “Biden’s the president” but didn’t say flat out that the election wasn’t stolen.
02.20.21-EVIL PEOPLE-The Justice Department and FBI are investigating whether high-profile right-wing figures — including Roger Stone and Alex Jones — may have played a role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach as part of a broader look into the mind-set of those who committed violence and their apparent paths to radicalization, according to people familiar with the investigation.
02.19.21-SWAMP-GOP Congressional Staffers Say They’re Furious At Their Bosses — Privately, At Least. Shaken by the actions of Republican lawmakers before and after Jan. 6, many aides say they feel trapped.
02.18.21-INSULT-Ted Cruz called Austin's mayor a 'hypocrite' for fleeing to Mexico during the pandemic. It's coming back to bite him. As his state suffered days of widespread blackouts and other dire consequences of a deep freeze, Cruz and his family were spotted boarding a plane to Cancun on Wednesday night.
02.17.21-HATEMONGER-Rush Limbaugh Made America Worse. The racist, sexist radio host played a pivotal role in injecting cruelty and conspiracy into conservative mass media.
02.17.21-TEXAS LIAR-Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is using his state's overwhelming blackouts as a deceptive excuse to attack the Green New Deal. More than 2.5 million Texas power customers remain in the dark after unprecedented winter storms froze several of the state's power sources. While some of the state's unweatherized windmills did freeze up, most of the blame lies with natural gas shortages. That's exactly what Abbott told Dallas-area ABC affiliate WFAA on Tuesday night, describing how natural gas has frozen up and prevented manufacturers from extracting and shipping it to power plants and customers.
02.15.21-BIG FRAUD-The Trump campaign and the Republican Party collected $255 million in two months, saying the money would support legal challenges to an election marred by fraud. Financier Fred Eshelman gave $2.5 million to True the Vote, a group seeking to press the case in court. Now he wants his money back.
02.14.21-GRAHAM-THE MOST TWO-FACED SENATOR-Prosecutors Will Investigate Lindsey Graham’s Post-Election Call To Georgia Official: Report. The call will reportedly be part of a probe into whether Donald Trump or his supporters broke state laws in trying to overturn his loss.
02.13.21-LYING LAWYERS-Trump lawyer said the Jan. 6 rally had been “hijacked” by extremists, including antifa activists from the far left. But Republican leaders have dismissed that claim. “Some say the riots were caused by antifa,” the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, said last month. “There is absolutely no evidence of that, and conservatives should be the first to say so.” (For context, here’s how Mr. Trump used false statements about antifa as a smoke screen for a growing right-wing threat.)
02.12.21-WELL SAID!-Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy said Thursday the presidency of Donald Trump was “indelibly stained” by his misconduct during his final weeks in office. McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, added that he hoped Trump’s presidency would eventually be remembered as a “historical aberration.”
02.14.21-GRAHAM-THE MOST TWO-FACED SENATOR-Prosecutors Will Investigate Lindsey Graham’s Post-Election Call To Georgia Official: Report. The call will reportedly be part of a probe into whether Donald Trump or his supporters broke state laws in trying to overturn his loss.
02.13.21-LYING LAWYERS-Trump lawyer said the Jan. 6 rally had been “hijacked” by extremists, including antifa activists from the far left. But Republican leaders have dismissed that claim. “Some say the riots were caused by antifa,” the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, said last month. “There is absolutely no evidence of that, and conservatives should be the first to say so.” (For context, here’s how Mr. Trump used false statements about antifa as a smoke screen for a growing right-wing threat.)
02.12.21-WELL SAID!-Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy said Thursday the presidency of Donald Trump was “indelibly stained” by his misconduct during his final weeks in office. McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, added that he hoped Trump’s presidency would eventually be remembered as a “historical aberration.”
02.11.21-REPUGNENT-Trump publicly attacked Pence during the Capitol riot knowing Pence was in trouble, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) suggests.
02.10.21-HUH?-Trump impeachment lawyer Bruce Castor declared that impeachment was the wrong remedy for the ex-president, who is accused of incitement of insurrection. “After he’s out of office, you go and arrest him,” Castor suggested hypothetically. Castor was attempting to argue that a president can’t be impeached after leaving office, that the proper legal remedy was via the criminal justice system. “So there is no opportunity where the president of the United States can run rampant in January in the end of his term and just go away scot-free,” Castor said. “The Department of Justice does know what to do with such people.”
02.10.21-JAIL TIME!-Georgia Prosecutors Open Criminal Probe Into Trump Efforts To Overturn Election. The investigation follows Trump’s call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to reverse Joe Biden’s win in the state.
02.09.21-TYPICAL RELIGIOUS CRAP!-Despite calls from fellow Southern Baptists, two Texas pastors have yet to apologize for comparing Vice President Kamala Harris to Jezebel, a Biblical queen whose name has become shorthand for a woman who is manipulative, seductive, and wicked.
02.07.21-WE CAN ONLY HOPE-GOP Rep. Liz Cheney says Trump ‘does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.’
02.06.21-YA THINK?-President Biden said Friday that former president Donald Trump should not have access to classified information in the form of the briefings usually given to ex-presidents, citing Trump’s “erratic behavior” and the risk that he might recklessly reveal sensitive information.
02.05.21-I WISH WE COULD KICK HER OUT OF CONGRESS-House votes to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee assignments. Greene, a vocal supporter of Trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, has been condemned by Democrats and many Republicans for embracing numerous conspiracy theories in videos and social media activity before she took office this year.
02.04.21-A conservative group is calling out members of the Republican Party by name for promoting “lies, violence and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories” in a scathing new ad that will air on Fox News during “Hannity” in Washington, D.C. next week. The spot from the Republican Accountability Project ― part of Defending Democracy Together, a never-Trump conservative group ― praises the members of the party who turned on Trump after the violent insurrection carried out by his supporters in the Capitol on Jan. 6.
02.04.21-LAUGHABLE-Trump’s legal defense against his second impeachment is filled with “absurd constitutional arguments,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead House impeachment manager, reportedly told fellow Democrats on Wednesday. And Democrats are prepared to refute all of them.
02.03.21-GUTLESS-McCarthy announces no disciplinary actions against Greene
02.03.21-SICKO-Tucker Carlson sprang to the defense of QAnon-backing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on his Fox News show Monday, the same day Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) condemned the first-term lawmaker’s support for conspiracies as a “cancer” on the GOP. Greene has backed Trump’s election fraud lies, claimed school shootings were staged and liked social media posts calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be killed. Carlson suggested she was only being criticized for having “bad opinions.”
02.01.21-GOOD NEWS!-GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Launches Anti-Trump ‘Country First’ PAC
“I think the Republican Party has lost its moral authority in a lot of areas” during the last four years, said the Illinois lawmaker.
01.30.21-HORRIBLE-GOP Lawmakers Seek Tougher Voting Rules After Record Turnout, Election Losses. Many Republican lawmakers at the state level are engaged in a widespread effort to restrict access to the vote after high turnout helped defeat their preferred candidates in 2020.
01.29.21-JUST THE BEGINNING-Lifelong Republican Donor Quits GOP: 'Absolutely' Now The Party Of QAnon.
Jacob Monty revealed this week he has quit the GOP and joined the Democratic Party, citing the deadly U.S. Capitol riot incited by
"Trump owns the party and Trump has always loved the conspiracy theories and this is Trump’s party now.”
“I tried for four years to be a Never Trumper in the Republican Party but it’s obvious now, everyone is paying homage to this ex-president,” he added. “No one will stand up to him.”
01.28.21-KEEP GOING-Thousands have dropped their Republican voter registration after the Capitol insurrection.
01.28.21-THEN THEY GIVE HER A COMMITTEE SEAT! Republicans disavow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'disgusting' comments.
01.28.21-Don't Let Anyone Tell You That The Economy left by Trump Is Great!-Economists are forecasting that the U.S. economy shrank by as much as 3.6 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged businesses, Reuters reported Thursday. The contraction would amount to the country's worst economic performance since 1946.
01.26.21-Coservative Christian Russell Moore says this about the insurrection: “If you can defend this, you can defend anything,” wrote Russell Moore, a theologian who is also the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), in an excoriating editorial to his fellow evangelicals about the breach of the Capitol. The intruders displayed Jesus Saves signs next to those calling for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence and, once in the building, thanked God for the opportunity “to get rid of the communists, the globalists and the traitors” within the U.S. government. “If you can wave this away with ‘Well, what about …'” added Moore, “then where, at long last, is your limit?”
01.26.21-Quotable Quote: Trump himself suggested ex-presidents could be tried a year ago. Per The Washington Post, when Trump was impeached for the first time, he complained that Congress should be going after former President Barack Obama instead over comments he made about health care. "We should impeach him for that," Trump said. "Why aren't we impeaching him?"
01.25.21-Crazy Josh Hawley
complained of being “muzzled” and a victim of “cancel culture” in his New York Post editorial. Observers from across the political spectrum united to call him out: "Never forget his clenched fist salute to the mob that would soon sack the Capitol. And now he’s assuming the victim posture after American citizens use their free speech to disassociate from a man who tried to break America for Donald Trump, and himself."
01.24.21-DESPERATE LUNATIC-Trump reportedly pressed the Department of Justice to take his bid to overturn the results of the presidential election all the way to the Supreme Court, but the effort hit a dead end after opposition from the agency’s leadership.
01.23.21-SCUMMY CARLSON AGAIN!-Last night on his program he again lied to his audience about CNN, stating we’d “dutifully removed” the COVID-19 tracking graphic from our coverage now that President Biden has taken office. That is false. We look forward to his correction
01.23.21-IF THIS IS TRUE IT IS ANOTHER COUP ATTEMPT-Trump in early January entertained a plan to replace the acting attorney general with a different Justice Department lawyer who was more amenable to pursuing his unfounded claims of voter fraud, nearly touching off a crisis at the country’s premier federal law enforcement institution, people familiar with the matter said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive matter. The move was first reported by the New York Times. Legal analysts said it amounted to a disastrous attack on the Justice Department’s independence, and perhaps something worse. “Before the insurrectionist assault on the US Capitol, there was an attempted coup at the Justice Dept. — fomented by the President of the United States,” former Justice Department official David Laufman wrote on Twitter.
01.22.21-TYPICAL FOX CRAP-MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough tore into Fox News on Friday, rebuking the widely watched conservative network over two recent segments in particular — one of which he described as “especially sick and damaging.”
The co-host of “Morning Joe” first slammed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) for falsely asserting Thursday that President Joe Biden’s team is made of “radicals who believe if they could exterminate the Republicans, that would be one way to get to unity.”
“Let me say that again for Fox News sponsors,” Scarborough said. “They’re getting people who are Fox News contributors, who are saying that Democrats — Joe Biden and Democrats want to, quote, ‘exterminate all Republicans.’”
Scarborough then called out a claim from Tucker Carlson. Earlier this week, Carlson said that the thousands of troops sent to secure Washington ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration (and following the U.S. Capitol riot by pro-Trump supporters incited by the former president) were just a political weapon being used by the Democrats to say, “We’re in charge now.”
“This is sick,” Scarborough said of Carlson’s declaration. “It’s especially sick and damaging. Here we are, what, a couple weeks after an insurrection against the United States of America?”
01.22.21-A NO BRAINER-A national group of lawyers filed an ethics complaint against Rudy Giuliani on Thursday, calling on the state of New York to suspend his law license following the efforts to undermine the 2020 election and spread lies from Trump about widespread voter fraud causing his presidential reelection loss.
01.21.21-SCUM-Hannitty (not as scummy as Tucker Carlson)-called Biden’s speech “forgettable” and akin to that of a high school president’s acceptance speech “from a guy who was desperately craving a nap.” He dismissed Biden’s calls for unity as “hollow” and “total and complete BS” and said he spouted “worn-out, liberal socialist clichés.” But that’s not what really ticked off supporters of the president. It was when Hannity called him “the weak, the frail, the cognitively struggling Biden.” Given how the commander in chief conquered a full day of ceremonies, speeches, signing executive orders and more, those were fighting words. One Twiiter user: "Biden's day began at 6am, ended at 12am. He gave 4 speeches, signed 17 EOs, swore-in 1k workers, walked down PA Ave to the WH, and more."
01.20.21-Syncophant Pence fails to mention Trump in farewell statement.
Dear Ivanka, It’s been horrible having you here. Although you’ve been just a couple of miles down the road, I could always feel your stone cold heart. I look forward to defrosting the ice cold clutch your family has had on my city. Don’t come back! Signed, 93% of DC.
01.19.21-REWRITING HISTORY-Monday the so-called 1776 Commission released its "definitive chronicle of the American founding." The chronicle consists of 20 pages of text and another 26 pages of Appendixes. It contains no footnotes, end notes, or recognizable English grammar. It contains a staggering blizzard of cockamamie conservative talking points and right-wing conjuring words.
01.19.21-‘Sycophant-In-Chief’ Lindsey Graham will double-cross anyone. Falsely claims that "Trump is trying to heal the nation." This, after Footage of Graham blasting Trump as a “jackass,” “kook,” “crazy” and “unfit for office” before the 2016 election is juxtaposed with clips of him later lavishing praise on the president, even calling for him to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
01.18.21-DIGUSTING!-Trump’s friends and allies are profiting from wealthy felons who are paying them to lobby the president for pardons, The New York Times revealed in a bombshell report Sunday. The “market” for pardons — which cuts out the poor and those not politically connected — reflects the “access peddling that has defined” Trump’s presidency, as well as his unorthodox use of his clemency powers to reward friends, the Times noted.
01.17.21-KARMA-After losing a book deal and political contributions, Sen. Josh Hawley has now had the rug pulled out from a fundraiser over his support for overturning the results of the presidential election. Loews Hotels said Saturday that it has canceled the event planned for next month at its Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, Forbes reports. The company tweeted that it was "horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol." The Missouri Republican stuck to his position when Congress returned to work after the Jan. 6 attack, even as other GOP members dropped their opposition to certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Loews cited the safety of employees and guests in adding that it was canceling the fundraiser "in light of those events."
01.16.21-TRAITORS-THE storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 has brought to the fore a host of activists on the extreme right whose violent rhetoric helped to create the conditions for an assault that left five dead. One of the most prominent of those activists is Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward. On December 19, Ward fired off a tweet urging President Donald Trump to “cross the Rubicon,” referring to the historical event that led to Julius Caesar declaring a dictatorship in ancient Rome. The tweet was shared by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. On January 4, Ward’s Arizona Republican Party retweeted Ali Alexander, one of the organizers of the event that culminated in the Capitol siege, who said that he was “willing to give my life for this fight”; the Arizona GOP said, “He is. Are you?” Later that day, the Arizona GOP tweeted, “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something.”
01.15.21-FUBAR-The White House said it was unlocking a vaccine reserve — but it was reportedly already empty. As officials soon learned, the federal government had stopped stockpiling second dose vaccines weeks ago, they tell the Post. Both first and second doses were instead taken right off the manufacturing line. That meant Azar's announcement reportedly released a stockpile that didn't exist. The U.S. had already reached its maximum distribution capacity, and new doses distributors were expecting next week weren't coming, the Post reports.
01.14.21-Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ― infamous for his hypocrisy when it comes to Trump ― is no longer the “most ludicrous senator,” according to longtime conservative commentator George Will. That title now belongs to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Will wrote in his latest column for The Washington Post, published Wednesday. Hawley had “seemed certain to be a presidential candidate in 2024” before he “immolated his brief political career” by helping to incite the violent mob of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, Will said.
01.13.21-This is typical-GOP Refuses To Follow New Capitol Safety Rules In Aftermath Of Riot. Several Republican members of Congress threw a fit at the idea of going through metal detectors to keep the Capitol safe after an insurrection.
01.12.21-Trump administration reverses stance, will no longer hold back second shots of coronavirus vaccine. The change comes several days after Biden said he planned to release nearly all available doses to speed protection for more Americans.
01.12.21-Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had a "tense, 30-minute-plus phone call" Monday morning, during which Trump ranted about election fraud and McCarthy cut him off, saying: "Stop it. It's over. The election is over," Axios reported Monday night, citing a White House official and another source familiar with the call. Trump also tried to deflect responsibility for his role in inciting a deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, telling McCarthy "antifa people" were responsible for the violence, Axios reports. McCarthy reportedly shot back: "It's not Antifa, it's MAGA. I know. I was there."
01.11.21-More Bullying-Trump was prepared to "do a number" on outgoing Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) last week on stage during the president's final pre-runoff rally in Georgia, a source familiar with the events told The Washington Free Beacon's Eliana Johnson, per Politico. The implication is that Trump told Loeffler what he said about her on stage was contingent upon whether she backed the Electoral College challenge.
01.09.21-REP. MO BROOKS, R-Ala., one of the most outspoken lawmakers in support of Trump’s false claim that the presidential election was stolen, floated the possibility of violence as a reasonable form of political resistance while speaking on local Alabama talk radio January 7.
01.08.21-Trump tweeted a defense of those who voted for him as he remained publicly silent about the death of a police officer at the hands of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol at his urging. Trump applauded the “great American Patriots” who voted for him, saying Friday “they will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” The tweet comes just 14 hours after Trump released a video condemning Wednesday’s riot, which he long encouraged and then praised.
01.07.21-Trump reportedly spent much of Wednesday "cocooned" at the White House as his supporters stormed the Capitol, and his aides say he has become "mentally unreachable."
01.07.21-The three repulsive architects of Wednesday’s heartbreaking spectacle — mobs desecrating the Republic’s noblest building and preventing the completion of a constitutional process — must be named and forevermore shunned. They are Donald Trump, and Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.
Kid glove treatment of pro-Trump mob contrasts with strong-arm police tactics against Black Lives Matter, activists say.
01.06.21-Trump goons unleashed. In July, Trump said Capital racial justice protesters who damage buildings should get 10 years in jail.
01.04.21-BE SCARED!-Op-Ed From 10 Former Secretaries of State Is Scary for What It Doesn’t Say. What it says is bad. You couldn’t get these guys together to sign off on a breakfast order, let alone an op-ed in which they tell the incumbent president* to get stuffed. Unless, of course, one or several of them know something that scares the daylights out of them. And if you start putting the context together—the decapitation of the civilian leadership at the Pentagon in favor of unqualified cronies, the current blustering centered on Iran, the simple fact that Trump is capable of anything—it's easy to concoct scenarios that are halfway between Seven Days In May and Duck Soup. This group did not get together in order to defend some vague love for the constitutional order. Something made them go cold down to their toes.
01.03.21-Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that election experts said raised legal questions. The Washington Post obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking “a big risk.”
01.03.21-More of Trump's Fake News-US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on Sunday said he has "no reason to doubt" the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Covid-19 death toll, contradicting President Donald Trump's claim that the agency has "exaggerated" its numbers.
01.02.21-Trump promised 20 million vaccines administered by year end. Only 2.8 million. Surprised?
01.01.21-Typical Trump Supporter-Lawyer L. Lin Wood — whose attempts to overturn the 2020 election have repeatedly failed — claimed falsely that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is still alive despite his death in custody. Wood tweeted the Epstein claim Thursday in response to criticism he faced over his tweets falsely saying that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was involved in the 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide. Scalia died of natural causes at the age of 79.
12.31.20-The fool Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was offered a history lesson on Twitter after he fretted over stay-at-home orders imposed to limit the spread of the deadly coronavirus ravaging the nation. “What would the Founders say?”he asked on Twitter. Critics noted that the Founders had in fact followed strict measures to stifle infectious disease outbreaks based on the science of their time. During the American Revolution, George Washington worked to contain a smallpox epidemic by isolating anyone suspected of infection and limiting outside contact with his army. In 1776, when the British withdrew from Boston, Washington mandated that only soldiers that had already been infected be allowed into the city. In 1796, in response to a deadly yellow fever outbreak, Congress passed the first federal quarantine law, which was signed by Washington. It authorized the federal government to help states enforce quarantines as necessary.
12.28.20-POST RIPS TRUMP'S 'SHAMEFUL' ATTACK ON FAIR VOTE The almost consistently Trump-friendly New York Post called the president out in a surprising, scathing editorial Sunday on his attempted “coup” attacking a legitimate, democratic election — and told him to get back to work. “Mr. President, it’s time to end this dark charade,” the editorial began in the tabloid, owned by Trump’s right-wing backer Rupert Murdoch.
12.27.20-Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) is pursuing legal sanctions against lawyers who questioned the outcome of the November election. Nessel, who has defended Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), said this week she is going to go after the attorneys who filed lawsuits alleging vote fraud and that votes were manipulated by Dominion Voting Systems
12,27.20-Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed Trump’s legal team’s approach to contesting the election as “an absurdity.” “The reason the Supreme Court didn’t take it is because it’s an absurd idea to think that any state or any number of states, no matter how good they are, can challenge another states’ right to run their election has they see fit. The reason the Supreme Court is not taking this is not because of a lack of courage. It’s for the same reason that every court has thrown this out — it’s a lack of evidence.”
12.24.20-TRUMP STICKS TAXPAYERS WITH ANOTHER GOLF TAB Trump has arrived at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort for the 31st golf vacation there of his presidency, raising the taxpayer-funded travel and security total for his leisure to $151.5 million, according to a HuffPost analysis. Trump has played golf on his own properties 289 times since taking office in January 2017, although he claimed during his 2016 campaign that he would not have time for a vacation at all.
12.23.20-Veteran GOP political strategist Karl Rove on Tuesday harshly rebuked Donald Trump’s former campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn for whispering absurd ideas in the president’s ear about overturning the November election
12.21.20-The snake turns on his boss-(NEWSER) – William Barr's last day as attorney general is Wednesday, and he's going out in a way that surely won't please President Trump. In a news conference Monday, Barr said he saw no reason to appoint a special counsel to investigate claims of election fraud or the business dealings of President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter, reports USA Today. Barr also shot down the idea of seizing voting machines, saying he sees "no basis" for such an action. He added that while he's "sure there was fraud in this election," he said he didn't deem it widespread enough to affect the outcome, per the Washington Post.
12.20.20-Former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly — the man who enthusiastically presided over the separation of children at the border; defended Trump’s lies and accommodation toward Russia; and enabled arguably the most destructive president in our history — told the Atlantic: “The vast majority of people who worked in the White House were decent people who were doing the best they could to serve the nation.” He added, “They’ve unfortunately paid quite a price for that in reputation and future employment. They don’t deserve that. They deserve better than that, because they kept the train from careening off the tracks. ”This is dead wrong. These people are not victims. Their reputations have been besmirched for the best of reasons: They participated in an administration unparalleled in its corruption, meanness, racism and authoritarianism.
12.18.20-More Obstruction-Pentagon officials have been left "stunned" after acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a "Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation" with President-elect Joe Biden's transition, Axios reports.
12.18.20-Hospitals around the country have been thrown into confusion after the administration informed state after state that they'll be getting 25%-40% fewer COVID vaccine doses next week than they'd been expecting.
Are we surprised? No, this is the Trump administration, consisting of know-nothings, political hacks and Trump cronies.
12.17.20-Crazy Bastards-The attorney pushing claims that voting machines were rigged in Joe Biden's favor might be facing a lawsuit in the near future. The New York Times reports that Dominion Voting Systems has sent Sidney Powell a scathing letter demanding that she publicly retract her "knowingly baseless and false accusations." For instance, Powell claims that Dominion's machines were made in Venezuela to help the late Hugo Chavez, but Dominion says it has no link to that nation—nor to "[Bigfoot] or the Loch Ness monster." The Times sees the letter as the first step toward legal action. Dominion notes that while Powell has made her claims in public, she has never included them in any court filing, thus depriving the company of the ability to legally refute them. Dominion isn't the only election tech vendor pushing back. Earlier this week, Smartmatic sent legal warnings to Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News for broadcasting similar claims, reports Law & Crime. The company threatened defamation lawsuits unless the networks air retractions, adding that its employees have received death threats over the "false and defamatory" claims, per StateScoop.
12.17.20-Trump's Legacy-In several countries, the share of people with a favorable view of the U.S. fell in 2020 to its lowest point on record. America’s image abroad declined considerably after Trump took office in 2017, but there was further erosion in 2020 amid widespread criticism of the country’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Just 41% of adults in the UK expressed a favorable opinion of the U.S. this year, the lowest percentage on record. And in France and Germany, the share of adults with a positive view of the U.S. fell to levels last seen in March 2003, at the height of tensions over the Iraq War.Across 13 countries surveyed this summer, a median of just 15% of adults said the U.S. had done a good job responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. That was much lower than the share who gave positive marks to their own country (median of 74%), the World Health Organization (median of 64%), the EU (median of 57%) and China (median of 37%).
12.15.20-George Conway, the anti-Trump attorney and husband of former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, went after the outgoing president on Monday over his continued refusal to acknowledge defeat in the 2020 election.
It said “three things about the president” — that Trump is “delusional,” that he’s malevolent, and that he’s running a scam on the American people, Conway said.
“If he can’t have the presidency, he doesn’t want anyone else to have the presidency undamaged, and he’s seeking to undermine the next administration,” he continued.
Conway highlighted how the Trump campaign filed a new lawsuit in New Mexico on Monday that challenged the election results.
“It makes absolutely no sense to bring this lawsuit,” said the attorney, a founding member of the Lincoln Project, the group of Republicans disaffected by the Trump era. “New Mexico has only five electoral votes and he’s down by 74. He lost New Mexico by 100,000 votes, 11%. And today, the electors of New Mexico and 49 other states cast their votes. No court is going to give relief at this point. The lawsuit is just a joke. It’s crazy.”
Cooper pointed out that “continuing the frivolous lawsuits” gave Trump cover to “the grift” of receiving donations from supporters who believe in his baseless conspiracy theories. So far, Trump has reportedly raised more than $200 million to fight the election results and, because of the nature of the PAC to which they have been donating, usual strict political spending rules do not apply.
Trump “needs to convince himself and his supporters for his own psychological needs that he actually won the election,” Conway concluded. “That’s where you get back to the point where he’s delusional and he can’t see the truth from his own lies and fantasies.”
12.15.20-Hours before electors met in Michigan’s state capitol on Monday to cast their ballots for President-elect Joe Biden, state Rep. Gary Eisen (R) warned a radio host that he was working with an unnamed group to mount a “dangerous” protest to pressure them into backing President Trump instead. “Can you assure me that this is going to be a safe day in Lansing?” WPHM interviewer Paul Miller asked. “No,” Eisen said. “I don’t know. Because what we’re doing today is uncharted.”
12.10.20-Trump declared on Twitter Friday morning that he just wants “to stop the world from killing itself!” The outgoing president’s claim — amid multiple tweets ranting about President-elect Joe Biden and demanding the immediate release of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine — drew fierce backlash from people on the platform. “Your behavior says otherwise,” one physician responded, as other Twitter users slammed Trump’s catastrophic handling of the coronavirus pandemic and how often he has downplayed the threat it poses. Critics also noted the president’s denial of the climate crisis and his administration’s end-of-office execution spree.
12.09.20-Here's the story. Months ago, the Trump administration agreed to buy 100 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer for $1.95 billion (part of its Operation Warp Speed). But because the vaccine requires two doses, this is only enough to inoculate 50 million people — far, far short of the whole population. Now The New York Times reports that Pfizer repeatedly offered the administration another bite at the supply apple, and it turned them down several times. Other countries have naturally snapped up the doses, and Trump has shamefacedly rushed out an executive order trying to prevent other countries from getting their doses before America. "But the order appears to have no real teeth and does not expand the U.S. supply of doses," notes the Times.
12.06.20-Another Lunatic-A particularly unhinged rant from Trump disciple and campaign adviser “MyPillow Guy” Mike Lindell made the rounds on Twitter Saturday night. Lindell insisted people will “go to prison” because Georgia voters picked Joe Biden.
12.05.20-The Republican National Committee paid $300,000 of donor money to a company owned by Trump Jr. to buy copies of his latest book, the Daily Beast reported,
12.03.20-Trump brought up the QAnon-supporting soon-to-be congressmember Marjorie Taylor Greene. Trump mispronounced the name of the group as "Q-an-uhn," and then said supporters of the theory that purports Democrats are a cannibalistic, pedophilic cabal "basically believe in good government," people familiar tell the Post. Everyone reportedly went silent until White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows mentioned he had "never heard it described that way," the Post reports. (see my page on this)
12.03.20-Child president released a lie-packed, self-pitying video diatribe on Facebook falsely claiming there was massive “fraud” in last month’s election, which he lost by 7 million votes to President-elect Joe Biden. “Like other authoritarians, Trump is unable to admit defeat and doubles down on his propaganda points, hoping to save face with his followers,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an authoritarianism expert at New York University.
12.02.20-Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who was pardoned by the president last week for lying during the Russia investigation, wants Trump to declare martial law and “temporarily suspend the Constitution” until a new election is held.
12.02.20-Trump’s campaign lawyer and former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova said that fired Trump cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs should be executed for saying that the election was the “most secure in United States history,” WTH?
12.02.20-A report released by NBC News on Sunday showed that Mr Trump underperfromed in 25 of the 30 counties he visited in the final two weeks of the campaign, compared to the 2016 election.
12.02.20-TRUMP'S 'SAVE AMERICA' PAC IS A BAIT-AND-SWITCH SCAM. Trump has raised many tens of millions of dollars with the promise of overturning his election loss, but his donors are actually pouring money into a fund he could use for Big Macs, golf equipment and, if he wants, even more hush money payments.
12.02.20-Trump has discussed with advisers whether to grant pre-emptive pardons to his children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Rudy Giuliani.
The Justice Department spent months investigating a “bribery-for-pardon scheme” as Trump was running for reelection. In a 20-page heavily redacted opinion U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that attorney-client privilege didn’t protect certain communications if they were alleged to be part of a “bribery-for-pardon scheme.”
12.01.20-Barr: No Evidence Of Fraud That’d Change Election Outcome. His comments come despite Trump’s repeated claims that the election was stolen.
11.02.20-Today's Voter Suppression-Joe Straus, the former Republican speaker of the Texas House, on Sunday voiced his opposition to a GOP lawsuit seeking to throw out around 127,000 drive-thru votes in the state's most populous county."The lawsuit to disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters in Harris County is patently wrong," Straus said in a statement that he shared on Twitter, adding that "the Republican Party needs to return to a place where we win with ideas and persuasion rather than trying to intimidate and silence our fellow citizens."
11.02.20-Today's Inciting Violence-Trump openly promoted people carrying out political violence on his behalf Sunday ― two days before the election ― in comments defending his supporters in Texas who dangerously swarmed a campaign bus for Democratic opponent Joe Biden. He tweeted Sunday evening in response to reports that the FBI has launched an investigation into an incident Friday where a caravan of Trump supporters surrounded a Biden campaign bus in Texas, nearly driving it off the stretch of highway between Austin and San Antonio. “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong,” Trump tweeted.
11.02.20- Today's Outrage-A new study by Stanford University researchers concluded that Trump rallies likely caused 30,000 new coronavirus cases and 700 additional deaths. [HuffPost]
11.01.20-Today's COVID Warning-President Trump’s repeated assertions the United States is “rounding the turn” on the novel coronavirus have increasingly alarmed the government's top health experts, who say the country is heading into a long and potentially deadly winter with an unprepared government unwilling to make tough choices. “We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, said in a wide-ranging interview late Friday. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
10.29.20-Today's Putdown-CNN host Brianna Keilar on Wednesday put Donald Trump’s sexist and dated view of the world under the spotlight. Keilar on “Newsroom” called out the president’s pleas to suburban women this week when he asked for their vote because he was putting their “husbands back to work.”“He seems to miss that, decades ago, women joined the workforce en masse,” said Keilar. The anchor aired footage of Trump in 1994 claiming that “putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing” and recalling going “through the roof” when he’d return home to find his dinner not ready. Keilar reeled off other examples of Trump’s “1950s worldview” ― from his references to “Gone With The Wind” and Bob Hope to his denial of systemic racism and touting of Confederate symbols.
“His nostalgia for the ’50s is obstructing his understanding of the present-day suburbs,” Keilar concluded. “It’s 2020. Lassie is not coming to save us and June Cleaver is not waiting at home with meatloaf.”
10.27.20-Today;s Sad Truth-Conservative columnist Max Boot on Monday begged Americans not to let Donald Trump’s presidency “define the United States for future generations.”“Electing Trump once can be written off as an aberration; electing him twice will leave an indelible stain on our history,” Boot wrote in his latest column for The Washington Post that recalled his own arrival in the U.S. from the then-Soviet Union when he was 7 years old.
Boot, a never-Trump critic, said the president would see “reelection as an endorsement of his first-term misconduct and a license for even greater abuses to come.”
“The United States will cease to inspire hope,” the pundit predicted, and, “instead instill pity and fear.”
10.27.20-Today's Good News-A federal judge on Tuesday denied President Donald Trump’s request that he be replaced as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit alleging he raped a woman in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.
10.26.20-Today's Insult-During a Fox News interview on Monday, Kushner, speaking about Black communities in the United States, said his father-in-law's policies "are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they're complaining about, but he can't want them to be successful more than they want to be successful," before claiming there has been a groundswell of support for Trump among Black voters.
10.26.20-Today's Broken Promise-According to the Wall Street Journal Trump’s trade war against China didn’t achieve the central objective of reversing a U.S. decline in manufacturing, economic data show, despite tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods to discourage imports.
10.23.20-This Week's Lie-Trump has told mistruths about the 2014 VA Choice Act more than 156 times, seeking to deny the contributions of rivals including Barack Obama and John McCain.
10.22.20-This Week's Mess-In August, Trump took unilateral action to help the economy weather the pandemic by deferring payroll taxes, essentially giving everyone a raise. Congress wouldn’t go along with Trump’s proposal, so the president did it himself. But the money would have to be paid back next year, meaning it’s not a tax cut so much as a deferral. Most private employers appear to have opted out of the scheme, and so did the U.S. Postal Service. But Trump decided to force it on more than a million employees of the federal government. Now, those civil servants must deal with the headaches of a loan they never asked for. [HuffPost]
10.20.20-This Week's Truth-Cities that have adopted “sanctuary” policies did not record an increase in crime as a result of their decision to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, according to a new Stanford University report. The findings appear to rebut the Trump administration’s rhetoric about the policies’ dire effects on public safety.
10.20.20-This Week's Second Reveal-Behind the scenes, as The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins recently reported, “many of Trump’s comments about religion are marked by cynicism and contempt, according to people who have worked for him. Former aides told me they’ve heard Trump ridicule conservative religious leaders, dismiss various faith groups with cartoonish stereotypes, and deride certain rites and doctrines held sacred by many of the Americans who constitute his base.”
Trump “mocks evangelicals behind closed doors,” Republican Senator Ben Sasse recently told his constituents.
“Can you believe people believe that bullshit?” Donald Trump said after a 2012 meeting with pastors who laid hands on him, according to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and confidant.
“Those fucking evangelicals,” the president, smiling and shaking his head, told GOP lawmakers, according to Tim Alberta’s book, American Carnage. Trump believed, Alberta writes, that if he gave them “the policies and the access to authority that they longed for,” then “in return they would stand behind him unwaveringly.”
10.19.20-This Week's Reveal-New York Post insiders trash Hunter Biden story
10.18.20-This Week's Second Broken Promise-The US trade deficit in goods and services hit $67 billion in August. Nominally, that is the second highest trade deficit ever recorded for a month, just after $68 billion in August 2006, according to data recently released from the US Census. Adjusting for inflation, the deficit hasn’t been this high since 2009.The deficit has ballooned during the Covid-19 pandemic. While US imports did fall, exports are down even more. Exports of aircraft, cars, and oil fell dramatically, while imports stayed closer to normal largely because of a massive increase in gold imports and pharmaceutical supplies. If the deficit continues to grow at its current pace, it will soon become the largest it’s ever been.
10.16.20-This Week's Second Outrage-Outgoing Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) is condemning President Trump’s amplification of a false QAnon-linked conspiracy theory that then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden may have had Navy SEALs killed to cover up a plot involving an Osama bin Laden body double.
10.16.20-This Week's Killing- At a North Carolina rally Thursday, President Trump praised the US Marshals who shot and killed the man suspected of fatally shooting a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer at an August protest in Portland. "We sent in the US Marshals, took 15 minutes and it was over. Fifteen minutes and it was over. They got him. They knew who he was. They didn’t want to arrest him, and 15 minutes, that ended,"
10.15.20-This Week's It's About Time!-A new bipartisan Christian super PAC is taking on President Donald Trump with a new ad that accuses him of hypocrisy when it comes to matters of faith. “Mr. President, the days of using our faith for your benefit are over,” the ad from Not Our Faith warns. “We know you need the support of Christians like us to win this election. But you can’t have it.”
The spot also accuses Trump of “using Christianity for his own purposes,” and shows footage of his Bible-toting photo op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, across from the White House, after having peaceful protesters teargassed to clear the area for him.
10.15.20-This Week's Truth-Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, in a private call with constituents, excoriated President Trump, "saying he had mishandled the coronavirus response, 'kisses dictators' butts,' 'sells out our allies,' spends 'like a drunken sailor,' mistreats women, and trash-talks evangelicals."
10.14.20-This Week's Scandal-For years now it has been clear that Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in American history. No previous president has continued to operate a vast personal business empire while in office — creating more than 3,000 identifiable conflicts of interest. As I predicted three days before he was inaugurated, he has constantly jammed taxpayer money into his own pockets, corruptly bullied foreign powers into doing him political favors, and turned the Department of Justice into an arm of his campaign.Now that The New York Times has gotten access to many years of Trump's tax returns, we have new confirmed details about one particular aspect of his corruption — getting paid for political favors. In essence, he has turned the American executive branch into a giant bribery scheme. Wealthy people with business before the state stuff money into Trump's pockets through his many properties, and in return he gives them the contracts or policy concessions they want.
10.12.20-This Week's Broken Promise-Trump’s bet that he could tame China’s rise through a mix of personal charisma and dealmaking prowess has faltered in the fourth year of his presidency — giving way to the most hostile period of bilateral relations in decades and a pitched conflict that could endure for a generation.
10.10.20-This Week's Broken Promise-Despite massive tariffs imposed by Trump, the U.S. just chalked up its biggest trade deficit in 14 years. The gap between the value of goods and services the U.S. buys compared to what it sells abroad climbed 5.9% in August to $67.1 billion. That’s the largest gap since August 2006. Imports were up 3.2%, to $239 billion — led by purchases of crude oil, cars and auto parts — compared with exports, which rose just 2.2% to $171.9 billion on shipments mostly of soybeans, reported the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
10.09.20-Govorner Whitmer said it all:
"Just last week, she noted, Trump had, “refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups” during a debate and said of one far-right group in particular “stand back and stand by.”“When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight,” Whitmer said. “When our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions, and they are complicit.”
10.08.20-This Week's Pence Distortions-Click
10.07.20-This Week's Sobering Statement-Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA under President George W. Bush, is warning about the toll of four more years of Trump. “If there is another term for President Trump, I don’t know what will happen to America,” Hayden said in a video released by Republican Voters Against Trump. Hayden cited Trump’s disregard for the truth, his refusal to act against violent white supremacist groups and his disregard for America’s allies as reasons the nation could be in jeopardy. Hayden endorsed Joe Biden for president. [HuffPost]
10.07.20-This Week's Political Suicide-Trump announced he is giving up on congressional negotiations over another coronavirus stimulus package until after the Nov. 3 presidential election, delaying critical aid to millions and handing Democrats a potent line of attack amid a devastating pandemic. “Immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday. As his Democratic rival Joe Biden pointed out, Trump’s announcement is a huge blow for thousands of airline workers facing layoffs, millions of small businesses, and 26 million unemployed Americans. Later, in a frenzy of tweets, Trump bizarrely suggested he might backtrack. [HuffPost]
10.06.20-This Week's Orange Burst-Veteran GOP operative Tim Miller called Trump's 90-second balcony scene "one of the most disturbing, absorbing, foreign images I can recall." Instead of the "übermensch" image Trump is evidently trying to convey by taking off his mask, Miller writes in The Bulwark, "we get a madman, his face pancaked under a 2mm coat of orange powder, jacked up on steroids, straining to breathe — and not caring a whit about those around him.
10.05.20-This Week's Insanity-TRUMP LEAVES HOSPITAL TO WAVE AT SUPPORTERS Despite his sickness and infection, Trump decided to surprise supporters gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center -- a decision slammed by an attending physician as reckless "insanity" that subjected Secret Service and other staff in his limousine to extreme risk of exposure. “He’s not even pretending to care now,” one agent said after Trump’s jaunt outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to wave at supportive crowds. He may never understand why his jaunt in an SUV on Sunday may have cost him whatever chance he still had to be re-elected on the square. There was a possibility, slim and evanescent, that he could have played this illness into a surge of sympathy that might have been enough to bring back some of the voters he has clearly lost. (The most recent polls show Joe Biden thrashing him among seniors, a demographic to which the pandemic represents literally a life-or-death issue.) Instead, we get ridiculous dumbshows. Him signing blank sheets of paper in some White House pantry. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, a man whose feet have not touched the bottom of the pool since he took the gig, babbling about bringing the notoriously reading-averse president* some "documents" to work on.
10.02.20-This Week's Stupid Lie-Trump: “Portland, the sheriff just came out today and he said I support President Trump.” False. Mike Reese, the sheriff who oversees Portland, tweeted, “As the Multnomah County Sheriff I have never supported Donald Trump and will never support him.”
09.30.20-This Week's Predictable-Lying, Cheating, Barking, Bullying: Trump Hijacked The First Presidential Debate.
09.30.20-This Week's Cause and Effect
Cause: Trump thrilled members of the violent far-right gang known as the Proud Boys on Tuesday when he responded to a question from debate moderator Chris Wallace, about whether he would be willing to tell white supremacists and militia groups that support him to stand down, by instead telling that group to “stand back and stand by.”
Effect: “Trump basically said to go fuck them up,” Joe Biggs, a leader of the Proud Boys, said in a chat on the right-wing social media app Parler. “This makes me so happy.”
09.29.20-This Week's Second 'We are not surprised'-When Trump speaks in private about religion, "many" of his comments are "marked by cynicism and contempt," reports The Atlantic. Former aides described how they have "heard Trump ridicule conservative religious leaders, dismiss various faith groups with cartoonish stereotypes, and deride certain rites and doctrines held sacred by many of the Americans who constitute his base."
09.28.20-This Week's 'We are not surprised' Americans finally got a look at Trump's tax returns, thanks to The New York Times, which did the job House Democrats failed to do. Trump has not paid any federal income tax in 10 of the last 15 years. In 2016 and 2017, he paid just $750. It's an incredibly outrageous story. The median household pays nearly three times as much federal income tax than the sitting president did. But more importantly, Trump's appalling business career is emblematic of an economy that is rigged in favor of wealthy elites who don't have to obey the law or face any consequences for failure. The impunity of the billionaire class is strangling this country.
09.25.20-This Week's Petulance-The Trump administration rescinded an award recognizing the work of a journalist from Finland last year after discovering she had criticized President Trump in social media posts, then gave a false explanation for withdrawing the honor, according to a report by the State Department’s internal watchdog. “Secretary Pompeo should have honored a courageous journalist willing to stand up to Kremlin propaganda. Instead, his department sought to stifle dissent to avoid upsetting a president who, day after day, tries to take pages out of Putin’s playbook,” Menendez said. “The State Department owes Ms. Aro an apology.”
09.25.20-This Week's Wall Thing-A federal appeals court in Washington sided with House Democrats on Friday in their effort to block the Trump administration’s diversion of billions of dollars to build the president’s signature southern border wall.
09.25.20-This Week's OMG-Senate Republicans were left dumbfounded Thursday by Trump’s latest self-engineered controversy, a suggestion there might not be a peaceful transition of power after Election Day, which left his GOP allies on Capitol Hill scrambling for political cover.
09.24.20-This Week's Hoax-Biden Investigation-an 87-page report summing up the findings, released jointly on Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security and Finance Committees, contained no evidence that the elder Mr. Biden improperly manipulated American policy toward Ukraine or committed any other misdeed. In fact, investigators heard witness testimony that rebutted those charges.
09.24.20-This Week's Intimidation-White House aides improperly intervened to prevent a manuscript by President Trump’s former national security adviser John R. Bolton from becoming public, a career official said in a letter filed in court on Wednesday, accusing them of making false assertions that Mr. Bolton had revealed classified material and suggesting that they retaliated when she refused to go along.
09.23.20-This Week's Comeback-OMAR HITS BACK AFTER TRUMP'S RACIST RALLY ATTACK-Trump has launched another racist diatribe against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “She’s telling us how to run our country!” he said at a rally in Pennsylvania. “How did you do where you came from? How is your country doing?” Omar was born in Somalia and immigrated to the United States as a child when her family fled the violence there. She’s been a U.S. citizen for 20 years. She fired back on Twitter: "Firstly, this is my country & I am a member of the House that impeached you. Secondly, I fled civil war when I was 8. An 8-year-old doesn’t run a country even though you run our country like one."
09.21.20-This Week's Double Disgusting-During a Fox News interview Monday morning, Trump baselessly claimed Ginsburg’s request, first reported by NPR, was actually written by Democratic politicians. In reality, Ginsburg herself relayed the statement to her granddaughter, Clara Spera, NPR reported.
09.20.20-This Week's Disgusting-MSNBC said Trump is endangering journalists and undermining freedoms after he told a crowd at a rally that it was a “beautiful sight” when one of the network's anchors, Ali Velshi, was shot with a rubber bullet during a protest over the death of George Floyd
“Freedom of the press is a pillar of our democracy. When the president mocks a journalist for the injury he sustained while putting himself in harm’s way to inform the public, he endangers thousands of other journalists and undermines our freedoms,” MSNBC said in a statement Saturday.
"I remember this guy Velshi," Trump said. "He got hit in the knee with a canister of tear gas and he went down. He was down. 'My knee, my knee.' Nobody cared, these guys didn't care, they moved him aside." "And they just walked right through. It was the most beautiful thing," Trump added. "No, because after we take all that crap for weeks and weeks, and you finally see men get up there and go right through them, wasn't it really a beautiful sight? It's called law and order."
Velshi also responded to the president’s remarks, and corrected Trump on the injury he sustained on May, 30, noting that he was hit by a rubber bullet not a tear gas canister.
09.19.20-This Week's Vapor-There’s secret, top-secret, code-word-secret — and then there’s whatever Trump’s health-care plan is. It’s apparently so deeply classified that the people overseeing the plan don’t even know they’re involved.
09.16.20-Trump's Town Hall Meeting-The fool lied in front of the world and contradicted his own prior statements. Demented!
09.17.20-This Week's WTH-Trump told Fox & Friends on Tuesday that despite earlier denials, he had been all set to assassinate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 but James Mattis, his defense secretary at the time, "didn't want to do it." Political assassinations have been illegal in the U.S. since President Gerald Ford signed Executive Order 11905 in 1976, following revelations of U.S. assassination attempts in Latin America. A few hours after Trump told Fox & Friends he "would have rather taken [Assad] out," his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner told Sinclair Broadcasting's James Rosen that Trump "always keeps all options on the table." In the interview, he asked Kushner twice if Trump considered assassinating foreign leaders "a legitimate tool of U.S. foreign policy," and Kushner suggested the answer is yes, even if he preferred not to use the word assassination.
09.16.20-Global views of U.S. plunge to new lows amid pandemic, poll finds.09.15.20-This Week's Second Lie-Four in one Tweet-The lie-Trump: "Was Andy McCabe ever forced to pay back the $700,000 illegally given to him and his wife, for his wife’s political campaign, by Crooked Hillary Clinton while Hillary was under FBI investigation, and McCabe was the head of the FBI??? Just askin’?"
The Truth: Daniel Dale explained on the CNN website that Trump was referring to donations to the failed 2015 Virginia state Senate campaign of McCabe’s wife, Dr. Jill McCabe. The donations were all to her, not to her husband, Dale pointed out. Further, the contributions were legal, none came from former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and McCabe was not “head of the FBI.” For most of 2015, McCabe was the assistant director in charge of the Washington field office.
09.15.20-This Week's Lie-Trump boasted of having received “the highly honored Bay of Pigs Award” from Miami’s Cuban community. But there is no such award.
09.14.20-Biden judged more mentally sound than Trump in new Fox News poll.
09.12.20-This Week's Coverup-Trump bragged to Woodward about protecting Saudi crown prince after Khashoggi killing: 'I saved his ass'
09.10.20-Click-This Week's Whistleblower Report on intellegence supression.
09.09.20-This Week's Horrible-A whistleblower is alleging that top leaders at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have politicized intelligence, with the political appointees pushing him to alter intelligence assessments to match Trump's public remarks.
09.09.20-This Week's Lie Shot Down-"Legions of Republican lawyers have searched in vain over four decades for fraudulent double voting," Benjamin Ginsberg, a newly retired top Republican Party election lawyer, writes in a Washington Post op-ed published late Tuesday. "At long last, they have a blatant example of a major politician urging his supporters to illegally vote twice. The only hitch is that the candidate is President Trump."
Trump's repeated exhortations to commit vote fraud, paired with his frequent claims that the election will be "rigged" and "fraudulent," are "doubly wrong," Ginsberg writes. They make the GOP's "torrent of 2020 voting litigation" look like "transactional hypocrisy," and they are false. "The truth is that after decades of looking for illegal voting, there's no proof of widespread fraud," he concedes. "At most, there are isolated incidents — by both Democrats and Republicans. Elections are not rigged."
09.08.20-A study of more than 10,000 protests this year found 95% were peaceful. President Trump would have you believe that the past several months of social justice protests against police violence and racial inequality represent a fundamentally violent threat that only he — aspiring strongman that he is — can crush with overwhelming force. But according to a new report from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, working in conjunction with Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative, the latest wave of nationwide demonstrations have been "overwhelmingly peaceful," despite politically motivated narratives to the contrary.
09.08.20-This Week's Crap-Trump helped himself to art treasures he fancied in the U.S. ambassador’s historic 1842 mansion in Paris when he visited two years ago —and had them shipped to the White House with him on Air Force One, Bloomberg reported Sunday.
09.07.20-This Week's Trash-Trump’s campaign is coming under criticism after one of its senior staffers on Sunday mocked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for “meandering” through a cemetery. Biden was visiting the graves of his late son, Beau Biden, and his first wife, Neilia Biden, and daughter, Naomi Biden. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015; Neilia and Naomi Biden were killed in a car accident in 1972.
09.07.20-This Week's Just the tip of what lies are to come-For Trump and his allies, it was a week spent spreading doctored and misleading videos.On Aug. 30, the president retweeted footage of a Black man violently pushing a White woman on a subway platform under the caption, “Black Lives Matter/Antifa” — but the man was not affiliated with either group, and the video was shot in October. White House social media director Dan Scavino shared a manipulated video that falsely showed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden seeming to fall asleep during a television interview, complete with a fake TV headline.
And Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking House Republican, released a video splicing together quotes from activist Ady Barkan — who has Lou Gehrig’s disease and uses computer voice assistance — to falsely make it sound as if he had persuaded Biden to defund police departments.
09.05.20-This Week's Intelligence-The Department of Homeland Security has prepared three draft reports warning that white supremacists are currently the most significant terror threat in the U.S., Politico reported Friday. All three drafts reviewed by Politico warn that white supremacists represent an even greater threat than violence from foreign terrorist groups.
None of the drafts reviewed by Politico mentioned any threat from antifa, the anti-fascist movement that President Donald Trump has repeatedly characterized as a pressing danger.
09.04.20-This Week's 'What Do You Think'-Liar Trump says he did not call war dead losers and suckers. Sounds just like him, to me.
09.03.20-This Week's Nutcase-Trump, on Wednesday during a trip in battleground North Carolina, urged voters to vote twice, once by mail and once in person, to test the protections intended to guard against double voting.
“I was just testing whether this state can detect voter fraud when I showed up to vote a second time” — is about as good a defense as: “I broke into the bank just to test whether it has a good alarm system.”-Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe.
09.02.20-Click-Trump's Crazier Than Usual Last Week
09.01.20-This Week's Second Lie-Trump retweeted a video of a Black man assaulting a White woman on the New York City subway with share text that blamed Black Lives Matter and antifa. However, the video was from October 2019 and had nothing to do with either group. New York police said the man in the video was charged in connection to the incident. According to local news reports, he had a long history of arrests related to New York City public transportation.
09.01.20-This Week's Disgust-Every action, every gesture and every tweet from Trump is the opposite of what he would do if he were intent on calming cities now seized by protests and violence. No calls to national unity. No pleas for reconciliation. No effort to recognize grievances or address them. Instead, Trump lionizes vigilantes and demonizes racial justice protesters, thereby inciting the former and enraging the latter.
08.31.20-Click-This Week's Reveal #2-This Trump-Russia Story Isn’t Going Away.
08.31.20-This Week's Inciting-Over the weekend, Trump unleashed a vile and frenzied tweetstorm about ongoing violence in Oregon and Wisconsin. His barrage of Twitter activity, which included deliberate efforts to incite civil conflict and support for vigilante activity and jailing political opponents, combined both those elements — superficial law-and-order appeals with open contempt for the rule of law.
‘Great Patriots!’: Trump lavishes praise on supporters amid deadly clashes with social justice protesters.
08.31.20-This Week's Reveal-Rod Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general, curtailed the F.B.I.’s investigation into President Trump’s personal and financial relationship with Russia, The Times’s Michael Schmidt reports in a forthcoming book. Rosenstein limited the investigation, even though some career officials thought Trump’s Russia ties posed a national security threat. And Rosenstein instructed Robert Mueller, the former special counsel, to conduct an inquiry into election interference, but not into the president’s affinity for Russia.
08.31.20-This Week's Fearmongering-Trump stoked fear around the weeks-long anti-racist protests and protesters in Portland, when he said in his acceptance speech last Thursday that a Joe Biden administration would “make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon. No one will be safe in Biden’s America.”
08.31.20-This Week's Lie Exposed-Last week, the F.B.I. said it hasn't seen any evidence of "coordinated" voter fraud efforts related to voting by mail. This contradicts President Trump's repeated claims that mail-in voting would lead to fraud. And that Democrats want to use it to "steal" the election. FBI officials also said it would be "extraordinarily difficult" to change an election's outcome through vote-by-mail fraud.
08.31.20-Last week’s Republican National Convention saw a blizzard of misinformation. President Trump’s acceptance speech Thursday was itself “a tidal wave of tall tales, false claims and revisionist history,” according to The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, which cited more than two dozen significant falsehoods in that address.
08.27.20-A New Nasty Person-Lou Holtz, a former college football coach, caused controversy during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night when he declared that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is a "Catholic in name only."
08.27.20-Nasty Person Update-Fox News host Tucker Carlson received immediate backlash after saying Kyle Rittenhouse, who was arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the shootings of two protesters in Kenosha, Wis., “decided to maintain order when no one else would.”
08.26.20-Exposed-From the BlueLeaks Documents. The latest stunning revelations include how police exaggerated the supposed threat of “antifa” to justify escalating violence against protesters. We also uncovered how the FBI chased nonexistent “eco-terrorists” and how police are using debunked junk science on “lie detection” in crime investigations. These leaks are an unprecedented exposure of the internal operations of federal, state, and local law enforcement, revealing jaw-dropping incompetence, racism, and disregard for civil liberties by the heavily armed government agencies policing our lives. Source: The Intercept
08.25.20-This Week's Criminal Act-Former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor claimed Trump offered to "pardon U.S. government officials for breaking the law to implement his immigration policies."
08.23.20-Huh?-Trump Told Homeland Security To Take Its Orders From Lou Dobbs, Former Official Says. "What Lou says is what I want to do," Trump said of the Fox Business host, according to a former DHS chief of staff.
08,23,20-Muzzle-Bill Barr Reportedly Pressed Rupert Murdoch To ‘Muzzle’ Trump Critic Judge Napolitano On Fox News. Trump “was so incensed” by Napolitano’s increasingly critical comments about him in Fox News broadcasts that he “implored Barr to send Rupert a message in person … about ‘muzzling the judge according to the bookHoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth, reported The Guardian, which obtained a copy. Trump “wanted the nation’s top law enforcement official to convey just how atrocious Napolitano’s legal analysis had been,” wrote Stelter, citing information from an unnamed source.
08.22.20-Debunk-Washington Post Editorial Board Debunks Donald Trump’s 2 ‘Huge’ Election Lies. “One is that the nation, his presidency and, above all, Mr. Trump himself are innocent victims of COVID-19. In fact, his own negligence, ignorance and malpractice turned what would have been a daunting challenge for any president into a national disaster,” wrote the board.“The other is that there was anything to admire in his record before the virus struck,” it said. “It is true that the economic growth initiated under President Barack Obama had continued, at about the same modest rate. Mr. Trump achieved this growth by ratcheting up America’s deficit and long-term debt to record levels, with a tax cut that showered benefits on the wealthy.”
08.22.20-Rejection-More Than 70 Republican Ex-National Security Officials Endorse Joe Biden. Donald Trump “is dangerously unfit to serve another term,” the former officials said in a statement.
08.20.20-An excerpt from CNN reporter Brian Stelter's book Hoax published by Vanity Fair on Thursday delves into theSean Hannity's relationship with Trump, whom he frequently hosts on his show for prime-time interviews. Hannity is one of the network's most ardent Trump loyalists, but Stelter quotes an associate as saying that when he's not on the air, he "would tell you, off-off-off the record, that Trump is a bats--- crazy person."A friend of Hannity's similarly told Stelter, "Hannity has said to me more than once, 'he's crazy.'"
08.18.20-Postmaster general announces he is ‘suspending’ policies that were blamed for causing mail delays-but, how much damage has already been done?
08.18.20-Scary-GOP Report-Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman posed a “grave counterintelligence threat” due to his interaction with people close to the Kremlin, according to a bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday that found extensive contacts between key campaign advisers and officials affiliated with Moscow’s government and intelligence services.
08.18-20-TRUMP'S FORMER DHS CHIEF OF STAFF CALLS HIS SECURITY POLICIES 'TERRIFYING' Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, recounted Trump’s “terrifying” behavior in a video. “We would go in to try to talk to him about a pressing national security issue ― a cyberattack, terrorism threat,” Taylor said in the video. “He wasn’t interested in those things ... The president wanted to exploit the Department of Homeland Security for his own political purposes.”
08.16.20-No Surprise-The Republican and Democratic chairmen of the Senate Intelligence Committee notified federal prosecutors last year of their suspicion that several individuals, including President Trump’s family members and confidants, might have presented misleading testimony in the panel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, people familiar with the matter said.The list of individuals included the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whose accounts of their pre-election meeting with a Russian lawyer were contradicted by the president’s former deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates in interviews that were part of the criminal investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss what remains a highly politicized and sensitive matter.
08.15.20- FUBAR-Critics blame the Trump administration for 'embarrassing' Iran embargo defeat. It the latest example of his administration's failures regarding Iran under the leadership of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Nicholas Burns, a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, agreed with Tehran about the decision exemplifying Washington's increasing isolation on the international stage, arguing Trump's own mistakes gave Iran "a victory it does not deserve" after his predecessors "unified the world against" the country. And Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a frequent Trump critic, said the defeat is a consequence of putting people without diplomatic experience in charge of diplomatic ventures.
08.14.20-Joe Biden's Statement:“Donald Trump was the national leader of the grotesque, racist birther movement with respect to President Obama and has sought to fuel racism and tear our nation apart on every single day of his presidency,” a Biden campaign spokesman said in an email. “So it’s unsurprising, but no less abhorrent, that as Trump makes a fool of himself straining to distract the American people from the horrific toll of his failed coronavirus response that his campaign and their allies would resort to wretched, demonstrably false lies in their pathetic desperation.”
08.12.20-Trump expressed support on Wednesday for Marjorie Taylor Greene, the racist QAnon follower who just won the GOP primary runoff for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Greene came under fire earlier this year after reports tying her to an anti-government militia leader and to a longtime member of the white power movement. In June, Politico reported on Greene’s history of racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic remarks that led the House’s high-ranking Republicans to denounce her and her association with the party.
08.09.20- Lie-Trump flat-out ignored a reporter’s challenge Saturday to his often-repeated false claim that he was responsible for passing the Veterans Choice health care law. He then ended his press conference and walked out. Obama passed this is 2014.
08.09.20-Dirty Trick-Trump proposes deferring payroll taxes that provide funding for both Social Security and Medicare. While Trump characterized the move as a financial boost for Americans struggling amid the COVID-19 crisis, critics blasted it as a cynical ploy to do what Trump has long intended to do: Gut the vitally important social service programs just as Americans need them more than ever during the pandemic.
08.09.20-Publicity Stunt-Trump abuses his power by trying to bypass Congress on virus-relief economic measures. (I do think Congress needs to get this done, now!) Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): "The pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop."
08.09.20-Flouting the Law-Calling it a ‘peaceful protest,’ Trump flouts coronavirus guidelines with golf club gathering.
08.07.20-Lying Pence-“In 2012, there was a Democrat super PAC that was involved in our elections (Indiana), that literally, there was a group of people that were prosecuted for falsifying ballots.” He got the year wrong (it was 2016, not 2012), the charges wrong (prosecutors did not allege ballot falsification or election tampering), and almost every other detail wrong (most of the individuals were not prosecuted but sent to pretrial diversion programs).
08.07.20- Political Crap-GOP operatives, including a lawyer with ties to the Trump campaign, have been working to get Kanye West on the ballot in several swing states.
08.05.20-Unsubstantiated Claim that the massive explosion in Beirut was a bomb attack has revived fears of the Trump’s potential to foment international crises. He called the blast a “terrible attack”. It was a bomb of some kind.” Soon after, CNN quoted Pentagon officials as saying there was no evidence of any attack,
08.04.20-Ignorant Statements-Trump and Pence say mail-in voting is fraudulent and you should use absentee ballot voting. They are the same. Both are MAILED!
08.04.20-Disgusting-Trump doubles down-repeated publicly that he does wish Ghislaine Maxwell, the accused sex abuser "well" and empathized with her. What is he hiding?
08.04.20-Trump on Tuesday again falsely suggested broad mail-in voting is not secure — this time by claiming one place it’s “safe” is in Florida, the state where he happens to vote by mail.
08.03.20-Asked by interviewer Jonathan Swan how history would remember Lewis’s contributions to the nation, Trump demurred.“I don’t know. I don’t know John Lewis,” Trump said in the “Axios on HBO” interview. “He chose not to come to my inauguration.”
08.03.20-White House official: Trump's newest team is 'worse than ever.'
08.01.20-Dope Alert-After railing about “fraudulent” mail-in ballots without any basis in fact, Trump bizarrely urged Americans on Friday to use absentee ballots — which are mailed in ----“People should go and they should vote — or do it absentee ballot,” he told reporters Friday, a day after he floated delaying the election.----- Absentee ballots “are great because absentee ballots you have to go through a process to get ’em,” Trump explained. “It’s actually a great thing, absentee ballots. I’m going to be voting absentee,” Trump told reporters. Voters have to go through a process for any mail-in ballots.
07.29.20-Dr Stella Immanuel believes Jesus will destroy Facebook's servers after the site deleted a video in which she claims hydroxychloroquine cures coronavirus. The Houston pediatrician made headlines across America after President Trump retweeted the video, before it was removed from Twitter and Facebook. Now Immanuel - who also believes demon sex causes sickness and that reptilians help run the government - thinks God is poised to strike down the social media site.
07.29.20-Awwwwwwww-Poor little baby says "nobody likes me."
07.28.20- Trump had not actually been invited to throw out the first pitch by the Yankees, according to one person with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule. His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff. He reportedly scheduled his own Yankees 1st pitch because he was jealous of Fauci.
07.27.20-Big Lie-July 17- Trump states "We’re signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do.”
07.27.20-Steven Calabresi, cofounder of the conservative Federalist Society, called for a second impeachment inquiry into President Trump in a New York Times opinion piece on Thursday after a tweet earlier in the day from Trump where he falsely characterized mail-in voting and proposed the delay of the 2020 presidential election in November, which the executive branch cannot enact.
07.26.20-Click-Trump’s week of retreat: The president reverses course as the coronavirus surges out of control. (copyright The Washington Post)
07.22.20-The U.S. ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, told colleagues in 2018 that Trump had asked him to see if the British government could help steer the British Open golf tournament to the president’s resort in Scotland.
07.22.20-Trump sent well wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, who is charged with procuring underage girls to be sexually abused,
07.19.20-Are we now a Banana Republic?-Trump Won’t Say Whether He Will Accept 2020 Election Results: "I Have To See."07.19.20-Are we now a Banana Republic?-Trump Won’t Say Whether He Will Accept 2020 Election Results: "I Have To See."
07.18.20-Be very scared
Are we now Russia, or China, or Iran?-Homeland Security Official Defends Portland ‘Kidnappings’ Amid Calls For Investigation. Unidentified federal agents in military-style gear are jumping out of unmarked vans to detain protesters, according to videos and personal accounts.
07.18.20-Click-Trump Interrupts Interview to Prove Biden Wants to Defund Police. It Did Not Go Well. His false accusation that Joe Biden wants to defund the police took an embarrassing turn during a Fox News interview.
07.17.20-Psychiatrist: Trump became the same ‘sadistic, tyrannical and cruel’ person his father was.
07.13.20-Trump Reportedly Considered ‘Selling’ Puerto Rico, Ex-Homeland Security Chief Says
Trump viewed the island devastated by Hurricane Maria as a "businessman" weighing the value of an asset, she said.
07.12.20-Republicans who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 explain why they are turning their backs on the president this November in a critical new ad. In the spot that Republican Voters Against Trump released Friday, 15 former supporters of the president cite his lies, vitriolic rhetoric and mishandling of the coronavirus crisis as just some of the reasons for ditching him in the 2020 election. Trump has “broken my faith in the Republican Party,” says one. Others claim to be “ashamed,” “embarrassed” and “riddled with guilt” to have backed Trump in the first place.
07.11.20-Click-Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence is an unforgivable betrayal of his office. (copyright The Washington Post)
07.08.20-Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman To Retire From Military, Cites Trump’s ‘Campaign Of Bullying’
06.30.20-BERNSTEIN: TRUMP WAS 'DELUSIONAL' AND OUTMATCHED
President Donald Trump was so unprepared for calls with the leaders of Russia and Turkey that he regularly threatened U.S. national security while boasting about his achievements, CNN’s Carl Bernstein reported Monday. Over hundreds of calls cited by anonymous sources, Trump almost never read briefing material prepared by intelligence agencies and would often take unplanned calls from foreign leaders. Two unnamed sources told Bernstein the regularity of the calls and Trump’s behavior led them to believe the president was “delusional” and thought he could charm or bully other leaders into doing what he wanted. [HuffPost]
06.30.20-WHITE HOUSE KNEW ABOUT RUSSIAN BOUNTY A YEAR AGO: REPORT Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence. The assessment was included in at least one of President Donald Trump’s written daily intelligence briefings at the time, according to the officials. Then-national security adviser John Bolton also told colleagues he briefed Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019. [AP]
The *best* defense of Trump on the bounty story is that he ignores his intelligence briefings—in other words, that he’s grossly incompetent at his job. And even *that* doesn’t remotely cover his reactions since Friday—none of which have acknowledged the gravity of the situation.
06.28.20-Disgusting!-Trump Campaign Peeled Off Social Distancing Stickers In Arena Before Tulsa Rally. Some 12,000 “Do Not Sit Here” stickers to help protect people attending from COVID-19 were removed by the campaign, according to arena management.
06.28.20-Trump on Sunday morning retweeted a video that was later removed in which his supporters clashed with protesters in The Villages, a community in Florida. At the beginning of the video, a man driving by protesters in a golf cart can be heard shouting "white power," but the racist incident didn't stop the president from thanking "the great people of The Villages" for sticking up for him.
06.25.20-“Donald Trump doesn’t want to run a country. He wants to run a campaign. Joe Biden actually wants to run a country,” said Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
06.24.20-Trump's former National Economic Council director Gary Cohn allegedly wrote in an email, "Trump won't read anything — not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers; nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored." The only information that interests Trump is information that affirms his self-image. He's rich, handsome, and popular — that's what he wants to hear, which is why he regularly says it himself.
06.22.20-Trump on Monday baselessly claimed that the general election in November will be “RIGGED” because of mail-in ballots, a method for voting that the president himself has used multiple times.The president said foreign countries are printing phony ballots, but election officials say it would be virtually impossible for such ballots to go undetected.
06.21.20-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms condemned Trump for staging his rally in Tulsa, the site of a historic race massacre, after a month of protests and civil unrest over racism and police brutality, subjects he skipped entirely during his speech.“That rally was an embarrassment,” she said. “It was absolutely what the nation does not need right now. He did not speak about healing. He did not recognize any of the racial tensions that are happening across our country.
“Instead, he does what he always does. He continues to try and divide us and really inflames the worst in people. And so I just hope that this is a good sign that the country is moving on from him.”
06.21.20-Tulsa rally-fire department counts 6,200 in 19,000 seat arena-reporters saw no interference from protesters. Mobile stage speeches were scrapped. Hot words, empty seats! Blue, no less!
06.18.20-In its online salvo against antifa and “far-left mobs,” Trump’s reelection campaign is displaying a marking the Nazis once used to designate political prisoners in concentration camps. A red inverted triangle was first used in the 1930s to identify Communists, and was applied as well to Social Democrats, liberals, Freemasons and other members of opposition parties.
06.18.20-Trump says Bolton's book is lies and then says it has classified information. Which is it?
06.18.20-Trump encouraged the Chinese leader to build facilities akin to “concentration camps” to imprison members of the Uighur Muslims minority group.
06.17.20-Trump claims scientists have “come up with the AIDS vaccine.” Another lie.
06.17.20-Trump’s false claim that Obama ‘never even tried to fix’ police brutality: Asked about Trump’s comments, Nancy G. La Vigne, vice president for justice policy at the Urban Institute, responded: “Untrue. There actually were extensive efforts to reform policing that were evidence-based and informed by leading experts in the field. This includes the Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the National Initiative in Building Community Trust and Justice,” she said in an email. “Further, DOJ under AG Eric Holder pursued consent decrees and pattern and practice investigations with vigor — two strategies that this administration has abandoned.”
06.12.20-Trump Administration Refuses To Disclose Which Businesses Received $500 Billion In Government Bailout.
UPDATE-06.21.20-The Trump administration, following a backlash, said it would release details about companies that received loans of $150,000 or more from a coronavirus relief program for small businesses.
06.12.20-The '90s Chemical Weapons Convention banned the use of tear gas in warfare. But loopholes have allowed countries like the US to use it against its own people as a "riot control agent." And law enforcement has used it to (you guessed it) control crowds. But experts say it should only be used as a last resort, and that using it on peaceful protesters is excessive. And that its effects are harmful.
06.12.20-Trump went to Dallas to host an event on race and policing but the White House neglected to invite the Dallas police chief, Dallas County sheriff, or Dallas County district attorney, all of whom are Black.
06.11.20-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley said he regretted his participation in President Trump’s photo opportunity outside St. John’s Church last week.
06.09.20-Barr contradicts Trump’s story that he was in bunker for ‘Inspection.’ Trump was being protected from protesters, the attorney general reveals in a Fox News interview.
06.09.20-Trump on Tuesday suggested without evidence that a 75-year-old man who was knocked to the ground by police in Buffalo, N.Y., last week during a protest over George Floyd’s death was a member of antifa and that the incident was “a set up.”
06.08.20-We can only hope: Trump's internal polls reportedly show a 'brutal' falloff among independents and a 'woman problem' and 'prominent Republicans are balking at voting for Trump. Could it cost him the election?'
06.05.20-The Trump campaign took down a video late Thursday trumpeting NASA’s return to human spaceflight, after harsh criticism that it was politicizing the event and violating NASA advertising rules.
06.05.20-In March, nearly 80 percent of white evangelicals said they approved of the job Trump was doing, But by the end of May, with the country convulsed by racial discord, Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals had fallen 15 percentage points to 62 percent, according to a PRRI poll released Thursday.
That is consistent with declines that other surveys have picked up recently. Among white Catholics, the same poll also found that his approval has fallen by 27 points since March.
06.05.20-Televangelist Pat Robertson publicly scolded President Donald Trump during “The 700 Club” Tuesday, saying that his response to the unrest after George Floyd’s death “isn’t cool.”
06.05.20-Retired military chiefs criticize Trump's actions-(copyright Slate.com)
06.05.20-The Trump campaign took down a video late Thursday trumpeting NASA’s return to human spaceflight, after harsh criticism that it was politicizing the event and violating NASA advertising rules.
06.05.20-The FBI Finds ‘No Intel Indicating Antifa Involvement’ in Sunday’s violence.Trump wants to designate antifa a terrorist organization, despite lack of authority and evidence of wrongdoing.
06.03.20-Trump is reportedly telling advisers Democratic governors are letting their cities 'burn' to 'hurt him'
06.02.20-Trump's 'really nice people'-An intelligence memo was sent by the Department of Homeland Security to law enforcement officials around the country on May 29, citing the FBI, revealed that on May 27, two days after Floyd died in police custody, "a white supremacist extremist Telegram channel incited followers to engage in violence and start the 'boogaloo'
06.02.20-Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory on Tuesday released a blistering statement about a visit by President Trump to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, slamming the "reprehensible" misuse of Catholic facilities.
06.02.20-Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, D.C.'s Episcopal bishop on Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church: [Trump] held in his hand the most sacred texts of our Jewish and Christian traditions, texts that call upon us to love God and love neighbor , that proclaims every human being to be a beloved child of God and exhorts us to live lives of peace and justice." He was preceded by a violent clearing of nonviolent protesters to make his way and he was using our church as a backdrop and the Bible as a prop."
-A senior White House official told Axios "I've never been more ashamed" than after watching the tear-gassing of protesters to pave Trump's path, adding: "I'm really honestly disgusted. I'm sick to my stomach. And they're all celebrating it. They're very very proud of themselves." And, Ivanka brought a handbag.
06.02.20-Conservative Icon George Will Urges November Sweep: Vote Out Trump, All GOP Enablers.The conservative commentator says it’s time to send Republicans a message at the ballot box.
05.30.20-Trump inflames the violence occurring due to the murder of George Floyd stating "when the looting begins, the shooting begins" and "Secret Service agents were just waiting for action” and ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen”
05.29.20-Trump responds to a video claiming "the only good democrat is a dead democrat" by thanking them and saying that he’d see the group in New Mexico.
05.29.20-Trump again railed against states expanding vote-by-mail, this time making absurd claims that children “raid” mailboxes and “grab the ballots.”
05.28.20-Even those closest to Trump have been privately worried the election is slipping away. According to a source, Melania Trump warned the president during their trip to India in February to take the virus response seriously. "He totally blew her off," the source said. Melania later told people that Trump "only hears what he wants to hear and surrounds himself with yes-people and family," the source added. [Vanity Fair]
05.27.20-Teump rails against mail-in voting-The Sacremento Bee found that independent studies and experts have repeatedly found that voting by mail does not lead to much abuse at all. In fact, any sort of voter fraud is rare. The federal Centers for Disease Control is encouraging mail-in voting where allowed. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has voted by mail 11 times in the past 10 years, sending in a ballot for every Florida election she's participated in since 2010. Kellyanne Conway voted by mail — but she thinks you should have to wait in line. She argued that if you’d wait an hour to buy a cupcake, you ought to be able to wait that long to vote. Yet in 2018, she ditched the line and voted by mail
05.26.20-continues to baselessly accuse MSNBC host Joe Scarborough of murdering a staffer. Widower of staffer says Trump has 'perverted' her memory.
05.25.20-On weekend dedicated to war dead, Trump tweets insults, promotes baseless claims and plays golf
05.23.20-coupled his criticism of Michigan with a threat that appeared to assert a power Congress hadn’t given him: “I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!”
05.23.20-a Trump-favored construction firm had won a $1.3 billion contract to build a section of the border wall. No matter that an earlier contract awarded to the same firm was facing an inspector general audit over potentially improper political influence.
05.23.20-Trump's removal of four inspectors general represents nothing less than "a war on the very concept of oversight." While Americans are busy watching the latest developments regarding COVID-19, Trump is making sure there's no one left in the government to watch him.
05.22.20-Trump praises Henry Ford's 'good bloodlines.' Ford held deeply prejudiced personal views, and his anti-Semitic writings were admired and praised by Adolf Hitler.
05.18.20-Trump obsesses about Obama-Observers point to a mix of anti-intellectualism, racism, vengeance and primitive envy over everything from Obama’s Nobel peace prize to the scale of his inauguration crowd and social media following.
05.16.20-Trump’s former ghostwriter declared Friday that the president really doesn’t care about the deaths resulting from the coronavirus pandemic because he has “no conscience” and is solely motivated by the need to dominate.
05.14.20-The 'unmasking' distraction has backfired on the Republicans-Unmasking is routine and has actually increased under Trump. All the proper procedures were followed with the Flynn affair
05.13.20-tried to bully two female reporters. They refused to let him, so he ran away
05.12.20-Click-Newly Released Transcript Shows Jared Kushner Misled Congress About a Contact Involving Russia
05.07.20-has longed claimed he was a major league baseball prospect-his batting average was .138
05.07.20-Trump lackey, Barr, just dropped charges against Michael Flynn, who pleaded GUILTY, TWICE, of lying to the F.B.I. WTH?
05.05.20-The Rest of the World Is Laughing at Trump. The president created a leadership vacuum. China intends to fill it.
05.03.20-A long read ---34 days of pandemic: Inside Trump’s desperate attempts to reopen America
(copyright The Washington Post)
04.30.20-erupts over poll slump and threatens to sue campaign manager. Blows his top in Friday argument and reportedly tells Brad Parscale ‘I’m not fucking losing to Joe Biden’ in November
04.26.20-tried to move a reporter to the back of the press room, but she refused. Then Trump walked out.
04.24.20-‘Sadness’ and Disbelief From a World Missing American Leadership-The coronavirus pandemic is shaking bedrock assumptions about U.S. exceptionalism. This is perhaps the first global crisis in more than a century where no one is even looking for Washington to lead.
04.24.20-Click to see 'Home Alone at the White House: A Sour President, With TV His Constant Companion'-Thirsty for Praise
(copyright The New York Times)
04.23.20-claims he hasn’t left the White House in months despite holding six campaign rallies in February and March.
04.21.20-GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee agrees Russia tried to interfere in 2016 election on Trump's behalf
04.18.20-said that he had recently gotten "a nice note" from Kim Jong Un, but by the following day, North Korea was denying its leader had sent any such thing.
Earlier, Trump:
campaign secretly paying $180,000 a year to his sons’ significant others
threatens to adjourn congress-never been done
has his name added to stimulus checks-thereby delaying them
has established himself as the worst president in U.S. history.
lied on 4.2.20 about speaking with Putin about oil
punishes the intelligence community for telling the truth
uses the Justice Dept. to punish his opponents and reward his cronies-the rule of law is over
now compares himself to a King-see Twitter
now says he did send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine. He forgot his earlier lie that he didn't
breaks the law when intimidating whistle-blowers
treats the Justice Dept. as his personal lawyer, and is destroying it
created 1.5 million fewer jobs in first 3 years than Obama's last 3
promised to eliminate the deficit over 8 years-actually has increased it by 3 trillion
promised no cuts to Medicaid-actually has asked for $800b over 10 years
now knows that he is now free to behave like his heroes Putin, Xi, Erdogan
charged rates as high as $650 a night for rooms to house secret service agents at his properties
wall-building now involves blowing up mountains in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
opens Utah national monument to drilling
uses the National Prayer Breakfast, a meeting to promote unity, to criticize his opponents
waves his arms all around, makes faces and points at people in the room while the national anthem is played
did an unhinged propaganda rally to celebrate a hollow victory
awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to the disgusting Rush Limbaugh-ugh
will allow the U.S. Military to again use landmines around the world
supports U.S. companies paying bribes in other countries
says that traumatic brain injuries are " not serious"
thinks the wheel was invented in the U.S.
thinks windmills cause cancer (I guess everyone in Holland is dead)
did not know that India bordered China
did not know about Pearl Harbor
spends 1/4 of his time at his golf resorts
11.26.21-THIS GUY GETS MORE DANGEROUS EVERY DAY-Trump’s former national security adviser and pardoned felon, Michael Flynn, has offered up his latest batch of conspiracy nonsense, this time suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic was orchestrated by unnamed “global elites” who could be preparing to unleash a new virus on humanity. “Their little plan with COVID didn’t work because too many people, you know, the world of what I call the digital warriors, or the citizen journalists that are out there. They are fighting for the truth, and so the truth has been exposed about all the COVID tyranny that we are facing,” Flynn told prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on “The Alex Jones Show.” “So I think what we’re going to see is potentially another type of virus that’s imposed on the public.” “I hope that’s not the case, but I’ve seen some indications of that in some of the statements by some of these global elite type of people,” Flynn added.
11.22.21-THANKS TRUMP-The United States for the first time was added to a list of “backsliding democracies” in a report released Monday by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. “The United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale,” the International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy 2021 report said.
11.21.21-IT'S SURPRISING PENCE DIDN'T FALL FOR IT SINCE HE IS A TRUMP SYCOPHANT-A scathing criticism by an ex-aide of former Vice President Mike Pence about “coup memo” lawyer John Eastman has become a key part of one group’s effort to push the California State Bar Association to investigate Eastman.Greg Jacob harshly criticized Eastman in an op-ed he drafted in January, saying Eastman was part of a “cadre of outside lawyers who spun a web of lies and disinformation ... for the purpose of pressuring the Vice President to betray his oath.” The nonpartisan U.S. Democracy Center this week used Jacob’s arguments in a letter sent to the bar association calling for an investigation of Eastman’s activities aimed at overturning the presidential election. Jacob also lashed Rudy Giuliani, who has already been suspended from practicing law in New York and Washington, D.C.
11.19.21-WE NEED MORE PEOPLE LIKE THIS TO SPEAK OUT-A TV anchor in Colorado tore into extremist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for the “the cruel, false, and bigoted things she says for attention and fundraising.” In a commentary, Kyle Clark demanded that news outlets hold Boebert accountable. “We hold Congresswoman Boebert to a far lower standard” than other lawmakers, Clark said after Boebert launched an Islamophobic attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) and falsely smeared her as being in something called a “jihad squad.” Boebert’s home-state TV news anchor appeared to have reached his limit. “If we held her to the same standard as every other elected Republican and Democrat in Colorado, we would be here near-nightly chronicling the cruel, false and bigoted things that Boebert says for attention and fundraising.”
Retired Navy Admiral William McRaven — U.S. special forces commander from 2011 to 2014, including the 2011 SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden — writes a WashPost op-ed condemning President Trump's treatment of retired Vice Admiral Joe Maguire, acting director of national intelligence until this week:
"As Americans, we should be frightened — deeply afraid for the future of the nation. When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil."
